y 


^ 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY 

OF 


NEGRO    MIGRATION 

Changes  in  Rural  Organization 

and  Population  of  the 

Cotton  Belt 


BY 

THOMAS  JACKSON  [WOOFTER,  JR., 

Field   Agent,    Phelps-Stokes    Fund.      Sometime    Phelps-Stokes 

Fellow  in  the  University  of  Georgia,  and  Fellow  of  the 

American    University    in  Columbia    University. 


SUBMITTED   IN   PARTIAL   FULFILMENT  OF  THE   REQUIREMENTS 
FOR   THE   DEGREE   OF  DOCTOR   OF   PHILOSOPHY 

IN  THE 

Faculty  of  Political  Science 
Columbia  University 


NEW   YORK 

W.  D.  Gray,  106  Seventh  Ave. 
1920 


Copyright,  1920 

By 

T.  J.  Woofter,  Jr. 


We 


To  My  Father 
An  Inspiring  Teacher  and  True  Companion 


M542420 


W 


PREFACE 

Investigation  of  the  conditions  from  which  Negro  migra- 
tions rise  throws  new  light  on  the  vexing  questions  of  land 
tenure  and  rural  organization  in  the  South.  Descriptions 
of  the  movements  reveal  interesting  and  important  social 
processes.  A  full  treatment  of  the  effect  of  the  migration 
necessitates  a  review  of  all  of  the  important  problems  of 
Negro  life,  for  migration  places  them  against  a  new  and 
changing  background. 

The  greater  part  of  this  work  is  devoted  to  the  first  two 
topics,  namely:  (1)  The  description  of  land  tenure  and  the 
organization  of  farm  life  in  the  Cotton  Belt.  (2)  How  this 
organization  results  in  the  movements  of  population.  One 
chapter  is  devoted  to  city  movements  and  one  to  the  effects 
of  migration.  While  the  writer  is  aware  that  the  space 
of  one  chapter  is  entirely  inadequate  for  a  full  treatment 
of  the  latter  topic,  it  is  not  considered  that  the  data  are 
yet  available  for  an  exhaustive  treatment.  The  principal 
effects  are  merely  outlined  so  that  students  of  special 
Negro  problems  may  be  warned  that  they  will  do  well,  after 
gathering  their  facts,  to  make  allowance  for  population 
movement  before  drawing  conclusions. 

Negro  migration,  like  the  movement  of  any  people,  may 
be  associated  with  definite  social  and  economic  forces. 
It  is  desirable  that  the  student  retain,  in  proper  perspective, 
this  general  significance  of  a  population  movement  even 
while  examining  its  interesting  details.  With  this  in  view, 
the  effort  throughout  the  study  has  been  to  describe,  in 
terms  of  current  usage  in  social  science,  the  movements 
of  colored  people  in  the  United  States,  the  conditions  from 
which  they  arise,  and  the  consequences  which  attend  them. 


CONTENTS 

Page 

INTRODUCTION  13 

PART    I.    THE   NEW   RURAL   ORGANIZATION 

Chapter  I.    Agriculture  and  Prejudice 22 

Importance  of  Agriculture  to  the  Negro 22 

The  Extent  of  Prejudice 26 

Chapter  II.    The  Ruin  of  the  Old  Regime 29 

Causes  of  the  Breakdown 29 

Rapidity  of  the  Breakdown 42 

Chaptfr  III.    The  Negro's  Agricultural  Opportunity 52 

The  White  Man's  Aid  and  Competition 52 

Growth  of  Landownership 57 

Growth  of  Tenancy  63 

Chapter  IV. . .  The  Life  of  the  Tenant  Classes 69 

Income    73 

Efficiency  in     Production — Yields    per    Acre,    Size    of 
Farm,  Value  of  Land,  Implements  and  Machinery, 

Work  Animals,  Depreciation  and  Waste,  Summary.  76 

Abuses  85 

Standard     of     Living — Family     Life,     Food,     Clothing, 

Housing    86 

Social  Differences   88 

PART  II.    THE  POPULATION   MOVEMENTS 

Chapter  I.    The  Diversity  of  Migrations 92 

Country  and  City 93 

Rural  Districts   95 

Direction  of  Rural  Migration 98 

Chapter  II.    The  Movements  of  Countrymen 105 

Movement  Before  1910 106 

Movement  Since  1910 117 


Contents  i  i 

Page 

Chapter  III.    City  and  Inter-State  Migration 122 

Small  Towns  and  Villages 123 

Large  Southern  Cities   131 

Inter-State    Movements    132 

Classes  Moving   135 

Causes — Housing  Difficulties,  Protection  and  Justice  in 

the  Courts,  Churches,  Schools 138 

Chapter  IV.    Results  of  Migration 148 

Population — Sex,  Fecundity,  Vitality,  Defective  Classes, 

Economic  and  Social  Classes 149 

Organizations — Schools,    Churches,    Industry 156 

Race  Relations — In  Areas  Gaining,  and  in  Areas  Losing.  166 

Conclusion   169 

Summary    169 

Constructive   Measures    172 

Bibliography    181 

Appendix    187 

TABLES 

1.  Cotton  States:     Increase  in  Negro  Population  and  Negro 

Farms,  1900-1910  18 

2.  Georgia:     Farms  by  Size  in  Acres,  1860-1910 43 

3.  Georgia:    Land  Proprietorships,  by  Size  in  Acres,  1873-1902  46 

4.  Georgia :     Farms  According  to  Tenure,  1880-1910 49 

5.  Georgia :    Negro   and   White   Proprietorships   by   Size  in 

Acres,   1873-1902    58 

6.  Selected  Counties,  Number  and  Size  of  Holdings,  1903 61 

7.  Georgia:    Farms  by  Tenure  and  Color  of  Farmer,  1900- 

1910 65 

8.  Georgia:    Percentage  of  all  Farms  Operated  by  Owners, 

Cash  Tenants  and  Share  Tenants 66 

9.  Black  Belt,  Wiregrass  and  Upper  Piedmont:    White  and 

Colored  Farmers  by  Tenure 67 

10.  Details  of  Tenant  Contracts 72 

11.  Georgia,   and   Selected   Counties:    Factors  of   Production 

and  Yield,  Negro  Farmers  by  Tenure,  1909 78 

12.  Georgia,  Farmers  by  Term  of  Occupancy  and  Color,  1910.  89 

13.  Georgia:     Rural  and  Urban  Population,  1890-1910 93 

14.  Georgia :     Village  Population,  1910 96 

15.  Georgia :    Occupations  of  Negroes,  1910 97 

16.  Georgia:    Migration  of  Negroes  by  County  Groups,  1900- 

1910 101 


12  Negro  Migration 

17.  Georgia:     Relation    of    Migration    of    Negroes   in    Rural 

Counties  to  Increase  in  Farmers 109 

18.  United  States:  Residence  of  Negroes  Born  in  the  South..  133 

19.  United  States :     Residence  of  Negroes  Born  in  Georgia. . .  134 
For   Unnumbered   Text    Statements   of    Figures    on    Sex 

Ratio,    Conjugal    Condition,    Birth    and    Death    Rates, 
Crime  and  Insanity  Rates,  see  Part  II,  Chapter  IV. 

MAPS 

1.  United  States :    Increases  in  Negro  Urban  and  Rural  Pop- 

ulation, 1900-1910 16 

2.  Georgia :    Increases  in  Negro  Rural  Population  by  Counties    99 

3.  Georgia:     Increases  in  Negro  Urban  Population  by  Cities.   126 

DIAGRAMS 

1.  Relation  Increase  in  Negro  Rural  Population  to  Increase 

in  Negro  Farms  103 

2.  Relation  of  Increase  in  Negro  Rural  Population  to  In- 

crease in  the  Tenure  Classes  (Correlation  Coefficients).   114 

3.  Correlation  of  Increase  in  Rural  Population  and  Farms, 

100  Counties,  Plotted  by  Counties 195 


INTRODUCTION 

The  recent  spectacular  movement  of  Negroes  northward 
awoke  the  people  of  the  United  States  for  the  first  time  to 
the  realization  that  the  colored  population  is  steadily  shift- 
ing.   In  1910  there  were  more  than  a  million  Negroes  living 
"In  the  North  and  West,  but  it  was  not  until  the  exodus  of 
1916  and    1917  assumed   such   startling  proportions   that 
—Negro  migration  became  a  nation-wide  topic  of  interest.      < 
Southern  planters  now  realize  that  they  are  confronted 
with  a  serious  labor  shortage,  and  that  the  future  of  their 
section  is   inextricably  involved  in  the   condition  of   the 
Negro  population.    The  concentration  of  large  numbers  of 
Negroes  in  northern  industries,  the  cessation  of  European 
immigration,  and  the  increased  apprehension  concerning  the 
reliability  of  many  of  the  foreign  groups  now  in  industry, 
have  made  the  Negro  a  very  important  factor  in  the  national 
labor  situation.     Men  in  industry  are  looking  to  the  black 
population  as  a  reservoir  of  good  and  thoroughly  "Amer- 
ican" labor  to  be  drawn  upon  in  the  future. 
^-The  social  consequences  of  this  shift  in  population  are 
of  no  less  significance  than  the  economic.    While  Southern 
planters  feel  the  pinch  of  the  loss  of  labor,  thoughtful  peo- 
ple of  the  South  are  wondering  just  what  changes  they 
should  make  in  race  relations  in  order  to  make  their  section 
a  better  place  for  Negroes  to  live.    While  men  in  big  busi- 
ness in  the  North  welcome  this  increase  in  their  labor  force, 
social  workers  realize  that  this  flow  of  large  numbers  of 
raw,  village  and  small-town  laborers  into  our  most  highly 
organized  industrial  communities,  increases  their  problems 
\jit  a  rate  all  out  of  proportion  to  the  increase  in  population. 
What  has  not  been  realized  is  that  for  the  past  fifty 
Qrears  the  forces  underlying  this  movement  have  been  oper- 


14  Negro  Migration 

ating  steadily,  but  in  a  less  spectacular  way.\  There  has 
been  a  northward  movement,  and  there  have  been  other 
movements  of  more  fundamental  importance  from  one  sec- 
tion of  the  South  to  another  ever  since  the  emancipation  of 
slaves. 
'  A  study  of  these  movements  of  Negroes  from  southern 
plantations  is  important  because  it  throws  light  on  some 
of  the  causes  of  the  loss  of  population  suffered  by  many 
other  rural  districts  of  the  United  States.  Diminishing 
returns  in  agriculture,  the  effect  of  the  opening  of  new 
lands  in  the  neighborhood,  and  discontent  with  rural  insti- 
tutions are  underlying  causes  of  movements  of  farmers 
not  only  in  the  United  States  but  also  the  world  over.  Ex- 
cept for  race  prejudice,  which  enters  into  most  of  the  Negro 
problems,  the  economic  and  social  forces  which  drive  the 
Negro  from  one  rural  district  to  another  and  from  country 
to  town  are  the  same  as  those  operating  in  the  white  popu- 
lation^ There  are  very  few  counties  in  the  South  where 
the  colored  and  white  people  do  not  move  in  the  same 
direction  in  response  to  the  same  situation. 

When  the  migration  became  rapid  in  1916  and  1917,  there 
was  extended  public  discussion  as  to  its  causes.  Numerous 
explanations  were  published,  and  there  is  some  evidence 
that  the  very  discussion  stimulated  many  to  go  North  who 
otherwise  would  not  have  reached  the  decision  to  move. 
There  is  also  ample  evidence  that  the  movement  itself,  once 
begun,  created  a  pressure  towards  further  movement.  This 
pressure  arose  because  Negroes  not  only  wrote  back,  but 
in  many  cases  sent  money  back  for  their  friends  and  rela- 
tives to  make  the  trip.  Recently,  therefore,  the  situation 
has  been  complicated  not  only  by  abnormal  war  conditions 
but  also  by  the  very  magnitude  of  the  movement. 

Fortunately  this  study  was  inaugurated  before  the  inten- 
sification of  the  migration  made  these  abnormal  factors 
prominent.  In  its  first  stages  the  study  was  an  effort  to  deter- 
mine the  significance  of  certain  peculiarities  of  population 


Introduction  15 

increase  and  decrease  within  the  South,  which  seemed  to  in- 
dicate well  denned  drifts  in  the  colored  population.  A  consid- 
erable amount  of  work  had  been  done  on  the  problem  before 
the  movement  of  1916-17  was  influenced  by  abnormal  war 
conditions,  the  boll  weevil,  and  the  Northern  labor  agent,  and 
before  it  extended  discussion  and  complicated  the  normal 
currents. 

This  first  study  of  a  fairly  simple  set  of  causes  revealed 
the  underlying  factors  of  rural  organization  from  which 
the  Negroes  were  moving.  The  only  element  changing  the 
fundamental  conditions  from  which  they  were  shifting  in 
Georgia  during  the  years  1916-17  was  the  boll  weevil,  and 
this  pest  was  not  new  in  the  more  western  portions  of  the 
Cotton  Belt.  The  principal  difference  in  the  volume  of  the 
war  migration  and  that  of  the  earlier  steady  shift  was  an 
alteration  in  the  proportions  going  North  in  response  to  the 
better  wage  conditions  which  were  widely  advertised  by 
labor  agents,  discussion  and  correspondence. 

The  causes  of  migration  were  worked  out  first.  It  was 
determined  that  the  shift  of  predominating  importance  from 
l1865  to  1916  was  from  one  rural  district  to  another,  that 
the  chief  cause  of  this  shift  was  discontent  with  land  tenure, 
and  that  after  1916  this  discontent  was  only  aggravated  by 
the  war  conditions  and  the  boll  weevil.  From  this  it  was 
evident  that  a  thorough  understanding  of  the  movement  is 
dependent  upon  a  clear  idea  of  the  importance  of  the  com- 
plex social  and  economic  conditions  which  are  associated 
with  the  different  systems  of  farming  or  land  tenure. 

A  real  understanding  of  this  institution  necessitates  a 
broader  viewpoint  than  can  be  obtained  from  the  study 
of  the  economic  principles  of  farming  alone.  The  system 
is  basic  in  rural  life.  Upon  the  quality  of  the  land,  the 
number  and  quality  of  the  people,  and  land  tenure — the 
institutional  tie  between  the  land  and  the  people — depends 
the  whole  organization  of  men  who  produce  from  the  soil. 

The  presentation  of  this  material  therefore  embraces  first 


i6 


Negro  Migration 


a  systematic  treatment  of  land  tenure  and  its  importance 
in  Negro  life;  second,  a  treatment  of  the  relationship  be- 
tween the  changes  in  land  tenure  and  farm  population,  with 
a  brief  statement  concerning  the  migration  from  country  to 
city  and  from  South  to  North,  and  third,  a  summary  of 
the  effects  of  migration  on  colored  population,  institutions, 
and  race  relations,  with  recommendations  for  attacking 
those  problems  which  are  emphasized  by  the  movement. 

GEORGIA:  A  TYPICAL  COTTON  STATE. 

In  general  it  may  be  said  that  the  conditions  of  agricul- 
ture, industry  and  population  movement  are  distinctly  dif- 
ferent in  the  Northern  States,  the  Border  States  and  the 
Cotton  States.  In  the  North  the  Negro  rural  population  is 
almost  negligible.  The  colored  man  is  attracted  almost 
wholly  by  city  opportunities,  and  with  one  or  two  excep- 
tions, the  great  excess  of  females  in  Northern  Cities  in 
1910  indicated  a  predominance  of  domestic  service  oppor- 
tunity. The  movement  during  the  European  war  was,  how- 
ever, industrial.     The  Border  States — Maryland,  Virginia, 

Map  I. 


) 


tflCflaiSJS  OF  K2GR0ES  gy  SJ4TJS.   190D-191* 

Shading  lnfiloates  lnorease  In  rural  districts. 
Symbols  Indicate  increase  In  ofUes. 


Per  oent   lnorease.  rural  districts.        rer  cent   Increase,    cltlts. 
J"]  Under  6 
§11  S  to  12  1/2 


12  1/2  to   20 
20  and  OTer. 


'O  Under  20 
<E>  20  to  40 
0  40  to  60 
•  60  and  over. 


Introduction  17 

Kentucky,  Tennessee  and  Missouri  show  a  decreasing  Negro 
farm  population,  and  the  increase  in  cities  is  small.  The 
rural  popualtion  of  West  Virginia  was  increasing  through 
mining  rather  than  agricultural  opportunities,  and  Texas 
and  Oklahoma,  though  Southern  States,  do  not  belong  to 
the  old  Cotton  Belt.  In  the  Cotton  States,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  rural  districts  seem  to  be  holding  their  own,  and 

/the  increase  in  towns  is  rapid.1 
typical  of  the  group  of  States  which  lie  along  the  Atlantic 
and  Gulf  Coasts  from  North  Carolina  to  Louisiana.  This 
map  is  shaded  to  show  the  rate  of  increase  in  Negro  rural 
population  of  each  of  the  States  having  a  considerable  num- 
ber of  Negroes  between  1900  and  1910,  and  a  symbol  is 
inserted  in  each  State  to  show  the  rate  of  Negro  increase 
in  cities  during  the  same  period.2 

In  every  Cotton  State  except  Alabama,  Louisiana  and 
Texas  the  rural  districts  show  increases  ranging  from  5  to 
9  per  cent.  In  Florida  the  rural  increase  is  21  per  cent. 
In  the  urban  districts,  or  places  whose  population  is  over 
2,500,  the  per  cent  of  increase  in  the  colored  population 
ranged  from  20.6  in  South  Carolina  to  80.3  in  Florida. 
Georgia,  therefore,  with  an  increase  of  9.0  per  cent  in  rural 
Negroes  and  39.6  per  cent  in  urban  Negroes  may  be  con- 
J  It  appears  from  Map  1  (previous  page)  that  Georgia  is 

1  Jones,  Thomas  Jesse,  Annals  of  the  American  Academy  of 
Political  and  Social  Science,  September,  1913.  "The  study  of 
the  county  population  of  the  more  southern  South  from  South 
Carolina  to  Louisiana,  presents  a  very  different  situation  as  re- 
gards the  movement  of  the  white  and  Negro  population  from 
that  of  the  Border  States.  ***  Each  of  the  Cotton  States  with 
their  large  Negro  population  shows  a  stability  of  population  and 
a  prevalence  of  gains  that  contrasts  quite  strikingly  with  the 
losses  and  differences  of  the  Border  States.  The  population 
movements  (of  white  and  colored  people)  of  these  States  seem 
to  be  governed  by  the  same  forces.  At  any  rate  the  two  classes 
of  the  population  apparently  move  and  increase  together" 

2  Map  1  is  based  upon  census  figures  quoted  in  Table  1. 


1 8  Negro  Migration 

sidered  as  a  fair  sample  of  the  Cotton  States.  The  increase 
in  total  Negro  population  in  Georgia,  was  13.7  per  cent,  a 
rate  only  exceeded  by  Florida,  Arkansas,  Oklahoma,  and 
some  of  the  Northern  States  with  relatively  small  Negro 
populations.  The  rate  of  increase  in  Georgia  was  slightly 
higher  than  the  rate  of  increase  of  Negroes  in  the  country 
as  a  whole. 

As  far  as  the  rural  population  is  concerned,  one  power- 
ful cause  of  increase  is  evident  in  the  substantial  growth 
in  the  number  of  farms  operated  by  Negroes.  The  census 
classification  of  farm  operators  includes  all  persons  cul- 
tivating the  soil  except  laborers,  consequently  an  increase 
in  farms  operated  by  Negroes  indicates  a  passage  from 
the  status  of  laborer,  occupied  all  Negro  agricultural  work- 
ers under  the  system  of  slavery,  to  the  status  of  a  farmer 
cultivating  the  land  in  a  more  or  less  independent  manner. 
The  increase  in  Negro  farms  and  its  relation  to  the  increase 
in  rural  population  is  shown  in  the  following  table : 

TABLE  1. 

Increases  in  Negro   Rural  Population  and  Negro  Farms, 

Cotton  States,  1900-1910  a 

Numerical  Increase  Percentage  Increase 

Rural  Rural 

State             Population  Farms  Population  Farms 

Florida    38,489  1,177  21.1  8.7 

Arkansas  54,059  16,600  16.3  35.3 

Georgia    78,409  39,732  9.0  48.0 

Mississippi    63,325  36,137  7  A  28.2 

N.  Carolina 33,568  10,460  6.1  19.4 

S.  Carolina 36,178  11,391  5.2  13.3 

Louisiana   19,179  —3,277  3.6  —5.6 

Alabama   22,526  16,318  3.1  17.3 

Texas    9,792  4,344  2.0  6.6 

3  Computed  from  U.  S.  Census  of  1910,  "Negro  Population  in 
the  United  States,  1790-1915,"  pp.  92  and  588.  The  words  "com- 
puted from"  as  used  here  and  in  succeeding  footnotes  indicate 
that  the  figures  given  are  not  directly  copied  from  the  census, 
but  are  arrived  at  by  subtractions  or  combinations  of  figures 
from  the  tables  cited. 


Introduction  19 

The  increase  in  farms  operated  by  Negroes  is  greater 
in  Georgia  than  in  any  other  State.  The  rural  districts  of 
Florida  and  Arkansas  show  a  faster  rate  of  population  in- 
crease, notwithstanding  a  slower  rate  of  farm  increase  than 
Georgia,  because  large  numbers  of  rural  Negroes  in  Florida 
and  Arkansas  are  farm  laborers  and  laborers  in  turpentining 
and  sawmilling. 

Oklahoma,  on  the  edge  of  the  Cotton  Belt,  increased  1 14.2 
per  cent  in  Negro  rural  population  and  107.9  in  Negro  farms. 
This  was  due  to  the  opening  of  new  government  lands,  and 
is  the  most  striking  instance  of  the  effect  of  agricultural 
opportunity  on  Negro  movements. 

The  distribution  of  Negroes  in  Georgia  also  makes  it  an 
interesting  State  to  study.  In  general  the  distribution  of 
Negro  population  varies  with  definite  geographical  belts,  and 
all  of  the  geographical  belts  of  importance  in  the  South, 
except  the  delta  lands  are  found  in  the  State.  The  Blue 
Ridge  and  Appalachian  Mountains  extend  into  the  northern 
section  of  the  State,  the  Upper  Piedmont  Plateau  lies  just 
south  of  the  mountains,  the  Black  Belt  includes  the  Lower 
Piedmont  Plateau,  extending  somewhat  past  the  fall  line 
of  the  rivers,  and  south  and  east  of  the  Black  Belt  is  the 
Coastal  Plain  commonly  known  as  the  "Flatwoods"  or 
"Wiregrass"  region.4  Within  the  State  counties  with  all 
proportions  of  Negroes  to  white  people  are  found.  The 
percentage  Negro  in  the  total  population  ranges  from  less 
than  5  in  some  of  the  mountain  counties  in  the  North  to 
over  85  in  Lee  County.  Map  II  (page  98)  shows  these 
sections  separated  by  heavy  boundary  lines.  The  white 
counties,  with  less  than  10  per  cent  of  their  total  popula- 
tion Negro,  lie  in  the  unproductive  mountainous  section  of 
the  North.  The  next  belt  of  counties,  ranging  from  10  to 
25  per  cent  in  Negro  population,  represents  the  Upper  Pied- 

*See   Atlas    of    American    Agriculture,    U.    S.    Department    of 
Agriculture,  1919,  Part  V,  Page  8. 


20  Negro  Migration 

mont  section,  a  rugged  region,  with  excellent  climate  and 
land  adapted  to  the  raising  of  a  great  variety  of  farm  crops, 
fruits,  and  cattle.  Contrary  to  the  usual  impression  that 
the  whole  South  was  divided  into  large  plantations  before 
1860,  this  section  is,  and  always  has  been,  the  home  of  small 
farmers.  Its  soil  did  not  make  the  large  scale  production  of 
cotton  as  profitable  as  did  the  lands  of  the  Black  Belt.  Con- 
sequently, slavery  was  not  highly  developed  in  the  Upper 
Piedmont.  The  slaves  owned  were  in  small  groups,  rang- 
ing from  1  to  10  per  owner,  and  in  many  cases  the  owner 
and  slave  worked  side  by  side  in  tilling  the  land,  whereas 
in  the  Black  Belt  the  owner  of  the  baronial  estate  was  sep- 
arated from  slaves  by  managers  and  overseers. 

The  next  area  extending  along  the  coast  and  arching 
across  the  State  in  the  shape  of  a  broad  horse-shoe,  con- 
stitutes what  is  commonly  known  as  the  Black  Belt,  in  which 
the  population  is  over  50  per  cent  Negro.  This  includes  the 
Lower  Piedmont  region  and  extends  south  of  the  fall  line 
of  rivers  into  the  Upper  Coast  Plain,  stretching  down  the 
Savannah  River  to  the  East  and  the  Chattahoochee  to  the 
South.  In  this  section  Negroes  are  found  in  overwhelming 
numbers  in  the  open  country.  The  county  towns  contain 
the  white  county  officers,  lawyers,  doctors,  merchants,  and 
many  of  the  landlords.  Even  in  many  of  the  towns  of  the 
Black  Belt,  however,  the  Negroes  outnumber  the  white  peo- 
ple. The  coastal  Black  Belt  is  slightly  different  from  the 
central  Black  Belt  in  that,  originally  this  area  was  the  rice 
and  sea-island  cotton  area,  and  was  divided  into  even  larger 
plantations  than  the  upland  cotton  area.  Inclosed  in  the 
curve  of  the  Black  Belt  is  the  region  known  as  "Wiregrass." 
The  counties  of  this  region  contain  a  Negro  population 
which  ranges  from  25  to  50  per  cent  of  the  total.  This  is 
the  level  Coastal  Plain  with  but  slight  elevation  above  the 
sea.  The  open  country  is  occupied  by  both  white  and  Negro 
farmers.    The  "Wiregrass,"  sparsely  populated  at  the  close 


Introduction  21 

of  the  Civil  War,  has  since  become  a  good  farming  and 
lumbering  section,  and  the  use  of  commercial  fertilizers  has 
attracted  buyers  of  land  which  was  formerly  considered 
almost  worthless. 

These  differing  proportions  of  white  and  colored  people, 
and  the  differing  farm  opportunities  in  the  geographical 
belts  are  marked  in  Georgia,  and  their  details  provide  ex- 
cellent insight  into  the  relation  of  the  Negro  agricultural 
worker  to  the  land. 

The  breakdown  of  plantations,  described  in  Part  I,  with 
the  attendant  rise  of  a  white  and  colored  tenantry,  applies  to 
all  the  area  of  the  old  Cotton  Belt  or  Black  Belt.  For  the 
sake  of  defmiteness  and  because  the  State  has  previously 
received  the  attention  of  R.  P.  Brooks  and  E.  M.  Banks,5 
the  facts  presented  are  confined  to  Georgia.  They  are  al- 
most exactly  paralleled  in  Alabama  and  South  Carolina. 
In  North  Carolina,  Tennessee,  Arkansas  and  Texas  the 
plantation  system  had  a  less  firm  hold  than  in  Georgia,  and 
suffered  a  faster  decline.  In  Louisiana  and  Mississippi  it 
was  more  firmly  intrenched  and  has  declined  more  slowly. 
Shifts  in  population  from  the  old  plantation  areas  and  move- 
ment to  towns,  described  in  Part  II,  have  likewise  been  in 
progress  all  over  the  Cotton  Belt.6  In  describing  these, 
however,  attention  is  again  centered  largely  on  Georgia  for 
the  sake  of  definiteness.  The  effects  of  population  move- 
ment described  in  Part  II,  Chapter  IV,  are,  of  course,  more 
or  less  uniform  throughout  the  South,  varying  only  with 
the  extent  to  which  a  locality  is  affected  by  migration. 

6  Brooks,  R.  P.,  "The  Agrarian  Revolution  in  Georgia,  1865- 
1912."  University  of  Wisconsin,  1914,  History  Series,  Vol.  3, 
No.  3. 

Banks,  E.  M.,  "Economics  of  Land  Tenure  in  Georgia."  Col- 
umbia University,  Studies  in  History  Economics  and  Public  Law, 
1905. 

6  See  U.  S.  Census,  Negro  Population  in  U.  S.,  1790-1915,  Chap. 
VIII. 


PART  I.    THE  NEW  RURAL  ORGANIZATION. 

CHAPTER  I 

AGRICULTURE  AND  PREJUDICE 

Since  the  agricultural  interests  of  the  South  are  so  pre- 
dominant, by  far  the  most  pressing  problems  of  the  section 
relate  to  rural  life.  Recent  efforts  for  the  improvement  of 
colored  people  have  been  centered  on  rural  problems  with  a 
two- fold  purpose.  Merely  from  the  standpoint  of  self- 
interest,  improvement  of  rural  conditions  affecting  Negroes 
means  improvement  in  the  general  welfare  of  the  South  and 
the  Nation.  From  an  altruistic  standpoint  it  seems  that  the 
greatest  benefit  to  the  Negro  himself  is  to  be  derived  from 
such  efforts. 

THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  AGRICULTURE  TO  THE  NEGRO 

The  3,000,000  Negroes  engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits 
constituted  (in  1909)  30  per  cent  of  the  rural  population  of 
the  South  and  40  per  cent  of  all  southern  agricultural  work- 
ers. Their  skill  and  industry  govern,  to  a  large  degree,  the 
prosperity  of  the  southern  farmer.  The  influence  of  Negro 
farmers  on  the  general  prosperity  of  the  nation  is  indicated 
by  the  fact  that  they  cultivate  41,500,000  acres  of  land,  an 
area  over  twice  the  size  of  all  the  land  in  farms  in  the  New 
England  States.1  From  the  standpoint  of  the  Negro  him- 
self the  importance  of  agriculture  is  emphasized  by  the  fact 
that  70  per  cent  of  the  Negro  population  lives  in  rural 
districts,  and  the  largest  numbers  of  Negroes  who  are  mak- 
ing money  and  acquiring  property  are  to  be  found  among  the 
farmers.    The  stable  element  of  the  congregations  of  rural 

1  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Education,  "Negro  Education  in  the  United 
States,"  Bulletin  38,  1917,  Page  103. 


Agriculture  and  Prejudice  23 

churches  and  the  patronage  of  rural  schools  is  composed  of 
those  Negroes  who  have  been  able  to  attach  themselves  to 
the  land.  s 

The  masses  of  Negroes  did  not  attain  their  stragetic  posi- 
tion in  agriculture  through  deliberate  planning.  They  are 
farmers  merely  because  they  happen  to  have  been  born  in 
the  country  and  because  the  white  land-owners  can  utilize 
their  labor  most  profitably  on  the  farm.  In  the  past,  agri- 
culture has  been  the  method  of  obtaining  a  livelihood  with 
which  colored  men  were  most  familiar.  Slavery  was  their 
school,  rather  a  hard  school  at  times,  nevertheless  a  school 
where  they  learned  the  white  man's  lessons  of  thrift,  religion 
and  agriculture.  The  hoe,  the  plow  and  the  cotton  basket 
became  friends  and  served  them  well  after  emancipation. 
The  lesson  that  America,  unlike  Africa,  demands  continued 
labor  if  a  man  is  to  survive,  was  also  a  part  of  the  program 
of  slavery.  These  lessons  were  more  or  less  imperfectly 
learned,  yet,  without  some  knowledge  of  them  it  is  incon- 
ceivable that  an  African  population  could  have  survived  in 
America  under  a  system  of  free  competition. 

But  the  passing  of  the  plantation  system  has  caused  almost 
revolutionary  changes  in  the  South  since  the  Civil  war.  The 
change  in  land  tenure  is  to  be  noted  chiefly  in  the  develop- 
ment of  radically  new  relations  of  the  Negro  to  the  land. 
From  a  condition  of  an  absolutely  dependent  laborer,  the 
Negro  has  advanced  to  the  strategic  position  in  agriculture 
outlined  above.  Still  more  radical  has  been  the  shift  of  a 
considerable  number  to  northern  industries.  These  changes 
have  been  accompanied  by  a  remarkable  set  of  social  phe- 
nomena. The  presence  of  varying  degrees  of  agricultural 
opportunity  in  different  sections  has  produced  a  start- 
ling amount  of  migration,  a  redistributiion  of  the  popula- 
tion and  changes  in  its  density.  Furthermore,  the  different 
degrees  of  opportunity  have  acted  as  a  selective  force  on 
the  Negro  population.    They  are  responsible  for  important 


24  Negro  Migration 

reorganizations  in  family  life,  religious,  educational  and 
other  rural  institiutions.  Consequently,  in  describing  the 
changes  in  the  agricultural  system  of  the  South,  we  are  not 
only  outlining  the  principal  conditions  from  which  popu- 
lation movements  arise,  but  also  presenting  a  systematic 
treatment  of  the  much  debated  and  fundamentally  import- 
ant principles  of  land  tenure. 

Such  a  presentation  is  particularly  important  at  present 
since  farm  organizations  and  especially  the  National  Board 
of  Farm  Organizations  are  characterizing  tenancy  as  a 
great  evil  and  an  increasing  menace.  They  have  induced 
practically  all  the  candidates  in  the  race  for  the  presidency 
of  the  United  States  for  the  1920  term  to  endorse  this  state- 
ment. Such  a  broad  generalization  of  the  evils  of  tenancy 
is  undoubtedly  a  perpetuated  form  of  Henry  George's  error 
referred  to  in  Chapter  IV  of  this  study,  which  arises  from 
the  a  priori  assumption  that  tenant  conditions  are  the  same 
in  this  country  as  they  are  in  Europe.  The_eyjdence  pre- 
sented in  Part  I,  aside  from  its  particular  bearing  on  popu- 
lation movement,  would  seem  to  indicate  that  increase  in 
actual  number  of  tenants  in  the  United  States  is,  in  itself, 
neither  an  evil  nor  a  menace,  but  an  indication  that  larger 
and  larger  numbers  of  laborers  are  mounting  to  a  very 
necessary  rung  in  the  ladder  whereby  the  farmer  boy  climbs 
from  the  landless  laboring  class  into  the  Tarm  proprietor 
class.  It  also  indicates  that  inasmuch  as  the  number  of 
owners  is  constantly  increasing,  the  increase  in  tenants  is 
not  recruited  from  ruined  landowners,  but  rather  from  farm 
laborers.  In  other  words,  while  tenancy,  as  it  exists  on 
many  of  the  farms  of  the  South  and  Middle  West,  has  little 
to  be  said  in  its  favor,  still,  as  compared  to  the  status  of 
the  farm  laborer,  it  represents  an  advance.  These  observa- 
tions as  to  the  general  significance  of  the  rise  of  land-tenure 
are  fully  developed  in  the  last  chapter  of  Part  I. 

It  appears  that  Booker  T.  Washington  was  right  in  urging 


Agriculture  and  Prejudice  25 

the  soil  of  the  South  as  the  basis  of  racial  improvement. 
That  While  the  Negro  should  exert  every  effort  to  abate 
unjust  discrimination,  he  should  expend  the  greater  portion 
of  his  energy  in  becoming  a  more  efficient  farmer.  In  a 
comparative  study  of  the  Negro  in  America  with  the  Native 
of    South   Africa,    Mr.    Maurice   S.    Evans   has   said : 2 

"In  travelling  over  the  South  land  the  impression  the 
visitor  gets  is  one  of  ample  space  for  development.  Even 
in  the  older  States  not  one-third  of  the  total  area  could  be 
called  improved  and  more  than  one-half  is  uncleared  and 
uncultivated.  A  much  greater  proportion  of  the  land  than 
in  South  Africa  can  be  put  under  the  plough  and  the  rain- 
fall is  abundant  and  well  distributed.  It  is  true  that  much 
of  the  land  has  been  distressingly  abused  and  gone  out  of 
cultivation,  but  by  modern  methods  of  manuring,  rotation 
of  crops,  and  green-soiling  it  can  be  gradually  built  up 
again,  possibly  even  beyond  its  original  fertility.  The  cli- 
mate and  soil  are  suitable  for  a  great  variety  of  crops,  both 
those  of  the  temperate  and  those  of  the  sub-tropical  zones. 
Timber  for  fuel  and  ordinary  building  is  everywhere  plenti- 
ful, and  the  country  is  well  watered  by  many  streams.  When 
I  compared  it  with  the  sun-stricken  karoo  of  the  Cape 
Colony,  without  fuel,  water,  or  shelter,  and  the  arid  wastes 
of  large  extent  in  the  interior  of  Australia,  lacking  in  any 
of  these,  it  seemed  to  me  a  land  to  which  nature  has  given, 
as  compared  with  many  others,  all  that  man  requires  to 
build  up  prosperous  and  happy  homes.  Judging  by  the 
standards  of  the  producing  British  Colonies  land  is  cheap; 
judged  by  its  possibilities  if  is  very  cheap.  This  means  that 
if  he  (the  Negro)  liked  to  take  to  agriculture  he  could  at 
once  purchase  and  stock  a  small  improved  farm  or  a  larger 
unimproved  one,  and  raise  enough  in  a  very  few  years  to 
return  the  purchase  price.  Such  a  man  need  never  be  in 
debt.  He  could  buy  his  requirements  and  sell  his  produce 
on  the  very  best  terms,  as  well  as  any  white  man,  and  yearly 
improve  his  holding  and  add  to  his  possessions." 

It  is  this  agricultural  opportunity  which  is  emphasized 

2  Evans,    M.    S.,    "Black    and   White    in   the    Southern    States." 
London:    Longmans  Green  and  Company,  1915,  p.  248-249. 


26  Negro  Migration 

throughout  the  remainder  of  this  study.  No  matter  what 
other  forms  of  race  discrimination  exist  in  tSe  South,  there 
is  no  bar  to  the  i\  egro  m  tfie  directionof  buying  land,  as  is 
the  case  with  the  Japanese  in  California,  and  in  so  far  as  he 
makes  effort  to  improve  himself  as  a  tenant,  his  interests 
and  those  of  the  white  landlord  are  practically  the  same. 

THE    EXTENT   OF   PREJUDICE 

To  the  mind  unaccustomed  to  the  intricacies  of  the  race 
questions,  the  foregoing  picture  of  Negro  agricultural  op- 
portunity may  seem  too  bright.  Accounts  of  discrimination 
and  race  prejudice  probably  play  a  larger  part  in  the  for- 
mation of  the  popular  belief  concerning  the  colored  people 
than  do  statistics  of  improvement.  To  a  large  number  of 
people  the  Negro  appears  a  very  much  down-trodden  in- 
dividual, the  opportunity  in  the  South  wholly  a  white  man's 
opportunity,  and  the  life  in  the  South  an  inter- racial  strug- 
gle. Though  this  pessimistic  view  overemphasizes  discrim- 
ination, it  is  to  be  remembered  that  along  side  of  the  stream 
of  opportunity  for  the  Negroes  there  is  the  parallel  stream 
of  phenomena  which  are  loosely  grouped  under  the  terms 
race  discrimination  and  race  prejudice.  These  two,  flowing 
side  by  side,  sometimes  act  on  one  another,  and  create 
queer  cross  currents  and  eddies  of  policy  which  are  ex- 
tremely difficult  to  understand.  To  describe  one  without 
describing  the  other  is  to  give  but  one  set  of  the  complex 
factors  of  race  problems. 

Therefore,  as  this  study  is  to  mainly  be  concerned  with 
the  agricultural  opportunities  of  Negroes  it  may  be  well 
to  emphasize  in  the  beginning  some  of  the  other  factors 
which  are  most  widely  known.  For  the  past  twenty  years 
thinking  Negroes  and  friends  of  the  Negro  have  been  di- 
vided into  two  schools,  which  agree  fundamentally  on  the 
question  of  what  is  needed  for  the  betterment  of  the  race, 
and  yet  clash  in  their  contentions  as  to  the  best  methods  to 


Agriculture  and  Prejudice  27 

pursue  in  obtaining  these  things.  The  school  of  militant 
protestors  constantly  holds  before  the  public  the 
sins  committed  against  the  Negro.  They  direct 
caustic  criticism  against  lynching,  injustice  in  the  courts, 
the  "Juri  Crow"  car,  and  other  forms  or  discrim- 
tion,"  and  their  chief  activity  is  litigation.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  cooperative  school  headed  by  the  late  Booker  T. 
Washington,  and  his  successor  R.  R.  Moton,  emphasizes 
opportunity,  training  for  citizenship,  winning  recognition 
through  efficiency  in  agriculture  and  industry,  and  co- 
operation with  the  white  race. 

Georgia  is  often  cited  as  the  foremost  example  of  dis- 
crimination by  the  former  school.  Their  chief  organ,  "The 
Crisis/'  refers  frequently  to  injustice  in  the  courts.  It  has 
conducted  investigations  of  the  "Jim  Crow"  cars  in  the 
State.  Not  only  The  Crisis,  but  also  the  press  of  the  coun- 
try as  a  whole,  has  awarded  Georgia  first  place  in  number 
of  lynchings  during  the  past  few  years.  Of  the  228  lynch- 
ings  during  the  years  1913,  1914  and  1915,  immediately 
before  migration  started,  The  Crisis  reports  42,  or  more 
than  one-sixth,  in  Georgia.  Of  the  164  as  reported  to  the 
Director  of  the  Department  of  Records  at  Tuskegee,  30 
were  in  Georgia.  Of  the  3,389  lynchings  in  the  United 
States  between  1885  and  1919,  398  were  in  Georgia.8 

It  must  be  admitted  that  in  the  instances  cited  above  race 
prejudice  gives  the  appearance  of  an  inter-racial  struggle. 
The  interests  of  the  masses  of  Negroes,  however,  are  the 

8  No  official  record  of  lynchings  is  kept.  The  three  sources 
of  unofficial  information  are,  the  Crisis;  the  Department  of 
Records,  Tuskegee  Institute,  Monroe  N.  Work,  Director,  and 
the  Chicago  Tribune.  The  difference  in  number  noted  above  is 
due  to  the  fact  that  the  Crisis  classes  as  lynching  some  cases  of 
inter-racial  violence  resulting  in  death,  though  committed  by 
individuals  rather  than  by  mobs.  The  most  complete  presenta- 
tion of  the  facts  appears  annually  in  'The  Negro  Yearbook," 
Monroe  N.  Work,  Editor. 


28  Negro  Migration 

same  as  those  of  the  white  people.  They  work  together 
amicably,  a  bad  crop  affects  both  races,  and  mutual  aid  is 
carried  on  to  a  remarkable  extent  in  view  of  the  funda- 
mental difference  in  their  culture.  It  is  interesting  and  per- 
haps confusing  to  note  that  between  1900  and  1910,  despite 
discrimination,  the  Negro  population  of  Georgia  increased 
13.7  per  cent,  while  the  Negroes  in  the  country  as  a  whole 
increased  by  only  11.2  per  cent;  Negro  illiteracy  decreased 
in  Georgia  from  52.4  per  cent  to  36.5  per  cent ;  the  number 
of  city  homes  owned  increased  51.3  per  cent,  and  the  num- 
ber of  farms  operated  by  Negro  owners  increased  48  per 
cent,  a  rate  not  exceeded  by  any  State  in  the  South.4 

These  steps  toward  improvement  are  hopeful  but  cannot 
in  any  sense  be  taken  as  an  extenuation  of  the  gruesome 
facts  as  to  lynching.  The  contrast  does,  however,  bring 
out  the  fact  that  there  are  two  parallel  and  often  conflict- 
ing sets  of  forces  in  the  problem,  and  that  there  is  a 
brighter  side  to  the  picture  than  that  which  appears  in  the 
public  press, — the  side  in  which  constructive  workers  with 
Negro  problems  are  primarily  interested. 


*  United   States    Census    of   1910.      Negro    Population   in   the 
U.  S.,  1790-1915;  pp.  37,  419,  465,  609. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  RUIN  OF  THE  OLD  REGIME 
The  immediate  effect  of  the  Civil  War  was  a  revolution 
in  Southern  agriculture.  This  revolution  brought  with  it 
varied  opportunities  for  the  white  and  colored  populations. 
For  the  ex-planters  three  options  were  open :  The  first  was 
to  abandon  planting — few,  however,  could  afford  to  do  this. 
Their  second  option  was  to  remain  on  the  plantation  and 
continue  agricultural  operations  by  following  as  nearly  as 
possible  the  ante-bellum  system  of  gang  labor,  merely  sub- 
stituting freedmen  for  slaves.  Their  third  choice  was  to 
move  into  town  and  adopt  a  share  tenant  system,  relaxing 
somewhat  their  personal  supervision  of  operations,  or  even 
renting  their  land  outright.  For  the  ex-slaves  three  options 
were  also  open^  First  to  remain  and  cultivate  the  land  as 
laborers.  Second  to  quit  the  plantations  which  clung  to 
the  gang  labor  system  and  seek  more  advantageous  terms 
of  cultivating  the  soil,  as  tenants  or  owners.  Third  to  quit 
agriculture  and  move  into  town.  >  Like  the  planters  few 
freedmen  had  the  desire  or  initiative  to  move  at  first.  Agri- 
cultural opportunity  was  opened  to  still  a  third  group  which 
had,  up  to  the  Civil  War,  been  confined  mostly  to  the  Upper 
Piedmont.  The  small  white  farmer  and  the  white  tenant 
had  the  opportunity,  for  the  first  time,  to  gain  a  place.  The 
slave  system  which  enabled  great  plantations  to  absorb  all 
the  small  holdings  was  no  longer  legal,  and  consequently  the 
situation  was  most  advantageous  to  the  small  farmer  and 
the  white  tenant. 

CAUSES  OF  THE  BREAKDOWN 

Prior  to  the  Civil  War  the  plantations  were  localized  in 
what  has  been  described  as  the  Black  Belt  (see  Introduc- 
tion).    This  section  was  divided  into  large  tracts  of  land 


30  Negro  Migration 

and  almost  all  of  the  available  area  was  or  had  been  used 
for  agriculture.  The  land  in  the  Wiregrass  region  was 
also  held  in  large  tracts,  but  only  a  small  portion  of  it  was 
cultivated.  In  1860,  83.6  per  cent  of  the  cotton  of  the 
State  was  grown  in  the  Black  Belt;  13.7  per  cent  in  the 
Upper  Piedmont;  3  per  cent  in  the  Wiregrass,  and  a  bare 
0.7  per  cent  in  the  mountains.1  *The  initial  causes  of 
the  change  from  the  regime  of  gang  labor  are  therefore 
to  be  observed  best  in  the  situation  of  the  Black  Belt  plant- 
ers after  the  war.  Large  landed  estates  and  large  scale 
production  of  cotton  had  become  almost  their  religion.  Nat- 
urally a  strong  effort  was  made  to  continue  the  cultivation 
of  cotton  by  using  the  freedmen  under  the  gang  system,  and 
in  some  parts  of  the  State  this  system  is  still  found.  The 
supervision  implied  was,  however,  such  a  constant  reminder 
of  the  physical  restraint  of  slavery  and  offered  such  limited 
opportunity  for  making  profits  that  the  Negro  was  dis- 
contented with  it. 

For  several  reasons  many  were  in  a  position  to  make  their 
own  terms  with  the  landlords  and  escape  from  this  irksome 
supervision.  The  competition  for  labor  was  for  a  time  in- 
tense. Many  of  the  farms  were  ruined  and  idle,  and,  not- 
withstanding the  high  price  of  cotton,  it  was  easy  to  acquire 
land.  The  system  of  allowing  the  merchant  to  hold  a  lien 
upon  the  growing  crop  in  security  for  supplies  advanced, 
gave  laborers  without  capital  further  opportunity  to  acquire 
land  on  credit,  or  for  a  rental,  and  to  stock  it  by  securing 
advances  from  supply  merchants,  giving  as  security  a  mort- 
gage upon  the  crop  which  he  promised  to  plant.  |  Thus  the 
tenant  could  make  the  initial  payment  on  a  piece  of  cheap 
land,  secure  easy  credit  for  tools,  stock,  and  supplies,  and 
depend  upon  future  crops  to  pay  him  out  of  debt.  /  A  de- 
tailed picture  of  the  influence  of  these  factors  upon  the 
plantation  system  can  be  presented  in  connection  with  the 

1  Brooks,  R.  P.,  opp.  cite  p.  124. 


The  Ruin  of  the  Old  Regime  31 

following  topics/:  (1)  The  irksome  supervision,  (2)  Com- 
petition and  Wages,  (3)  Hard  times  and  Cheap  Lands, 
(4)  The  crop  lien  system.  These  were  the  general  causes 
of  the  breakdown  of  large  plantations. ) 

Irksome  Supervision.  When  slavery,  as  a  means  of  con- 
trolling labor  was  abolished,  radical  changes  began  to  work 
in  the  Negro  mind.  The  immediate  result  was  the  com- 
plete demoralizaation  of  the  agricultural  system.  In  describ- 
ing what  took  place  in  1865-66,  Brooks  gives  the  following 
picture : 2 

"On  many  plantations  operations  went  ahead  with 
scarcely  any  interruption.  Planters  called  informal  meet- 
ings of  the  freedmen,  explained  in  simple  terms  their  new 
condition  and  offered  employment  at  the  current  rate  of 
wages  to  all  who  desired  to  remain.  After  wandering  off  a 
short  distance  simply  to  assert  their  freedom  many  Negroes 
returned  to  the  plantations  and  took  up  their  former  labor. 
Those  planters  who  had  been  most  considerate  of  their 
slaves  experienced  the  least  trouble  in  employing  them  as 
freedmen.     *     *     * 

"On  the  other  hand,  there  was  a  large  element  of  the 
freedmen  who  did  not  follow  the  course  just  outlined.  The 
widespread  belief  that  the  plantations  of  their  former  own- 
ers would  be  divided  among  the  ex-slaves  at  Christmas, 
1865,  acted  as  a  deterrent  to  steady  industry.  The  Com- 
missioner of  the  Freedmen's  Bureau  found  it  necessary  to 
send  out  special  instruction  to  all  officers  and  agents,  direct- 
ing them  to  do  what  they  could  to  dispel  this  delusion." 

In  many  sections  of  the  State,  the  gang  system  of  culti- 
vation was  doomed.  The  close  oversight  reminded  the  Ne- 
groes too  strongly  of  slavery  days,  and  the  sharp  competi- 
tion for  labor  gave  them  the  power  to  demand  better  terms 
or  to  move  off. 

While  the  cultivation  of  cotton  is  not  strenuous  labor,  it 
demands  imperatively,  at  certain  seasons,  that  a  constant 
labor  supply  be  available.    Consequently,  the  landlords  were 

2  Brooks,  R.  P.,  Agrarian  Revolution,  opp.  cite  p.  12-13. 


32  Negro  Migration 

in  dire  straits  when  confronted  by  such  uncertainties  in 
labor  supply.  Some  arrangement  had  to  be  made  whereby 
the  landlord  could  be  assured  that  his  crop  would  have 
constant  attention.  The  metayer,  or  share  tenant  system, 
resulted.  Under  this  system  the  landlords  could  move  into 
the  towns  and  have  their  places  farmed  by  tenants  on 
shares.  The  tenant,  usually  without  capital,  was  advanced  a 
year's  supplies,  given  the  use  of  a  house,  implements  and  a 
work  animal.  In  return  he  was  to  plant  and  work  the  crop 
in  accordance  with  the  instructions  of  the  landlord.  The 
landlord  received  as  rent  a  share  of  the  crop.  This  share- 
tenancy  in  its  turn  was  irksome  to  some  of  the  Negroes  who 
did  not  like  the  supervision  which  it  implied.  They  desired 
a  still  more  permanent  and  independent  form  of  land  tenure. 
It  was  then  that  cash  tenancy  arose.  In  the  case  of  a  cash 
tenant  or  renter,  if  the  Negro  were  without  capital  his  ad- 
vances for  tools  and  supplies  were  made  as  a  direct  loan 
from  the  landlord  or  from  a  merchant,  and  a  mortgage  on 
his  growing  crop  was  taken  to  secure  payment.  In  this  way 
the  tenant  was  responsible  for  part  of  the  capital.  Instead 
of  having  to  pay  the  landlord  half  of  the  crop,  he  had  to 
pay  a  stipulated  "standing"  rent,  and  all  that  remained 
after  paying  his  rent  and  returning  the  money  advanced, 
belonged  to  him.  The  cash  tenant  was  on  his  own  initiative. 
The  more  or  less  successful  farmers  managed  to  accumu- 
late a  little  money  and  buy  land.  The  unsuccessful  were 
involved  in  debt,  lost  their  land  and  stock,  and  returned  to 
the  status  of  laborer  or  share  tenant.  That  the  successes 
have  been,  in  the  long  run,  slightly  more  numerous  than  the 
failures  is  illustrated  by  the  slow  increase  in  the  number 
of  Negroes  found  in  these  higher  forms  of  tenancy. 

It  is  natural  that  the  owners  should  be  averse  to  a  pass- 
age from  laborer  to  share  tenant  and  share  tenant  to  cash 
tenant,  because  each  step  means  a  decreasing  amount  of 
supervision  over  the  crop  and  care  of  the  land.  Many 
of  these  landlords  who  were  experienced  farmers  and  who 


The  Ruin  of  the  Old  Regime  33 

could  have  enhanced  the  welfare  of  their  tenants  by  lending 
their  supervision  to  the  operations  were  compelled  to  aban- 
don the  supervision  of  tenants  and  adopt  the  rent  system. 
In  the  case  of  shiftless  tenants  the  resultants  were,  the  use 
of  less  fertilizers  and  poorer  methods,  less  care  of  the  work 
animal  and  tools,  and  a  consequent  deterioration  in  the 
value  of  the  land  and  implements.  An  interesting  account 
of  how  the  change  came  about  step  by  step  on  a  single 
large  plantation  in  Georgia,  is  given  by  Chancellor  D.  C. 
arrow  in  Scribner's  Magazine.3 

"For  several  years  following  emancipation,  the  force  of 
laborers  was  divided  into  two  squads,  the  arrangement  and 
method  of  cultivation  was  very  much  as  in  the  ante-bellum 
period.  Each  squad  was  under  an  overseer,  or  foreman. 
The  hands  were  given  a  share  of  the  crop.  As  the  time 
went  on,  the  control  of  the  foreman  became  irksome  to  the 
Negroes.  As  a  consequence  the  squads  were  split  up  into 
smaller  and  smaller  groups,  still  working  for  a  part  of  the 
crop,  and  still  using  the  owner's  teams.  The  process  of  dis- 
integration continued  until  each  laborer  worked  separately, 
without  any  oversight.  The  change  involved  great  loss  and 
trouble.  Mules  were  ill-treated,  the  crop  was  badly  worked, 
and  often  the  tenant  stole  the  landlord's  share.  It  became 
necessary  to  abandon  the  sharing  feature.  The  owner  sold 
his  mules  to  the  tenants,  thereby  putting  on  them  the  burden 
of  the  loss  incidental  to  the  careless  handling  of  stock.  It 
became  impracticable  to  keep  the  cabins  grouped  when  each 
man  worked  on  a  separate  farm,  since  some  of  the  farms 
were  at  a  distance  from  the  "quarters."  New  cottages  were 
therefore  built  scatteringly  in  convenient  places  near  springs. 
The  Negroes  now  planted  what  they  pleased  and  worked 
when  they  liked,  the  landlord  interfering  only  to  require 
that  enough  cotton  be  planted  to  pay  the  rent."  The  author 
concluded,  "The  slight  supervision  which  is  exercised  may 
surprise  those  ignorant  of  how  completely  the  relations  be- 
tween the  races  at  the  South  have  changed." 

Thus  the  plantation  system  in  parts  of  the  Black  Belt  was 
doomed.    It  will  be  noted  from  Barrow's  description,  how- 

»  Barrow,  D.  C,  Scribner's  Magazine,  April,  1881. 


34  Negro  Migration 

ever,  that  the  change  did  not  take  place  in  a  day.  In  many 
instances  the  owners  of  land,  in  the  endeavor  to  save  its 
fertility  and  to  increase  their  crops  are  still  endeavoring  to 
maintain  the  old  gang  system.  In  fact,  most  large  farm 
units  which  remain  today  are  "mixed," — the  owner  hires  as 
many  laborers  as  he  can  and  farms  the  remaining  land  with 
tenants.  The  result  is  that  only  the  lower  types  can  be 
hired  for  wages.  The  higher  types  who  are  successful 
farmers,  move  up  into  share  tenancy  or  renting.  They  do 
not  like  the  labor  system  which  makes  them  rise  at  the  tap 
of  the  farm  bell  in  the  early  dawn  and  work  under  close 
oversight  until  the  evening.  Only  the  marginal  laborers, 
those  least  able  to  bargain  for  a  farm,  are  left  to  work  as 
laborers  on  the  large  plantations. 

Wages  and  Competition.  One  of  the  chief  reasons  why 
the  Negro  was  able  to  assert  his  desire  to  escape  from  the 
supervision  of  the  landlord  is  revealed  by  wage  conditions 
and  the  sharp  competition  between  landlords  for  competent 
laborers.  During  the  period  from  1865  to  1880  the  action  of 
supply  and  demand  enforced  more  freedom  for  the  Negro 
than  any  of  the  post-bellum  amendments  to  the  Constitu- 
tion of  the  United  States.  The  main  factors  in  supply  and 
demand  which  enabled  Negroes  to  pass  from  the  status  of 
laborer  to  tenant  may  be  summed  up  as  follows :  First,  the 
supply  of  laborers  in  the  plantation  area  was  reduced: 
(a)  by  the  withdrawal  of  numbers  of  women  from  field 
work,  and  (b)  by  the  movement  of  other  laborers  to  cities 
and  rural  districts  in  which  higher  wages  could  be  offered. 
Second,  the  demand  was  increased  by  (a)  the  high  price 
which  cotton  brought  immediately  after  the  war,  and  (b) 
by  the  necessity  of  using  the  land,  the  only  form  of  wealth 
that  remained  in  the  South.  This  decrease  in  supply  and 
increase  in  demand  led  to  competition  for  labor  to  which 
the  Negro  responded  in  various  ways.  For  some  the  re- 
sponse was  to  seek  the  higher  types  of  tenancy  rather  than 
to  remain  as  laborers.    For  a  large  majority,  however,  the 


The  Ruin  of  the  Old  Regime  35 

first  response  was  merely  an  assertion  of  freedom  from  re- 
sponsibility which  led  them  to  work  when  they  pleased  and 
shift  from  plantation  to  plantation  with  such  disregard  for 
contracts  that  they  earned  the  distrust  of  their  former 
masters  and  disrupted  many  of  the  old  plantations. 

Of  the  first  factor  in  the  decrease  in  supply  of  labor  it  is 
hardly  necessary  to  speak  at  length.  Under  the  slave  system 
many  of  the  women  worked  in  the  field  and  a  very  natural 
result  of  their  release  was  to  retire  from  agriculture,  either 
in  order  to  become  home-keepers,  subsisting  upon  "hand 
laundry"  work,  with  occasional  excursions  to  the  fields,  at 
cotton  picking  or  chopping  times;  or  to  become  domestics 
in  the  towns  and  larger  cities.  Inasmuch  as  this  movement 
was  one  towards  greater  care  of  the  children  and  the  home, 
it  was,  of  course,  greatly  to  the  advantage  of  the  race. 

The  movement  of  Negroes  from  the  Black  Belt  in  re- 
sponse to  the  higher  wages  offered  in  Western  States  and 
Southern  Georgia,  was  of  more  grave  consequence.  The 
following  table  quoted  by  Brooks  from  the  Year  Book  of 
the  Department  of  Agriculture,  1876,  gives  the  compara- 
tive money  wages  in  Southern  States.4 

Comparative  Wages  Per  Year  for  Farm  Hands 
in  Southern  States 
State  1867  1868 

North  Carolina $104  $89 

South  Carolina 100  93 

Georgia 125  83 

Florida  139  97 

Alabama 117  87 

Mississippi 149  90 

Louisiana  150  104 

Texas  139  130 

Arkansas 158  115 

Tennessee 136  109 

*  These  averages  quoted  from  the  Department  of  Agriculture 
are  based  upon  the  reports  of  special  agents,  and  while  not  exact 
are  the  best  available  indices  of  the  conditions.  In  addition  to 
these  money  wages  food  was  furnished. 


36  Negro  Migration 

It  is  evident  from  these  figures  that  all  the  Cotton  States 
except  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina  and  Alabama  were 
offering  higher  wages  in  both  1867  and  1868  than  Qeorgia. 
In  1868  all  the  Cotton  States  were  offering  higher  wages. 
Several  reasons  may  be  assigned  for  this  difference  in  wage 
scale.  In  the  first  place,  while  land  was  plentiful  in  Geor- 
gia, it  was  still  more  plentiful  in  Alabama,  Mississippi, 
Louisiana  and  Arkansas.  The  supply  of  free  public  land 
had  not  been  exhausted  in  these  States.  Again,  the  States 
lying  west  of  Sherman's  line  of  march  did  not  suffer  any- 
thing like  the  loss  of  wealth  which  those  in  his  line  of 
march  suffered.  A  still  further  factor  is  to  be  found  in  the 
fact  that  land,  in  the  Western  States,  having  been  more 
recently  put  under  cultivation,  had  not  suffered  as  much 
deterioration  from  the  wasteful  cultivation  of  slave  labor. 
It  was  more  productive.  In  the  long  run,  almost  every 
other  State  could  afford  to  pay  more  for  Negro  labor  imme- 
diately after  emancipation  than  Georgia. 

In  addition  South  Georgia  was  competing  against  the  old 
plantation  area  for  labor.  Brooks  states  that  the  agent  of 
the  Freedmen's  Bureau  in  Southwest  Georgia  wrote  to  Gen- 
eral Tillson  in  January,  1866,  that  there  was  a  demand  for 
labor  in  Baker  County,  and  asked  that  four  or  five  hundred 
hands  be  sent.  Three  to  five  hundred,  he  said,  were  needed 
in  Dougherty  County. 

Not  only  were  the  planters  confronted  by  this  shrinkage 
in  the  labor  supply,  but  they  were  also  confronted  by  the 
imperative  demand  for  labor.  Without  money  or  credit 
they  returned  to  their  homes  in  1865  in  dire  need  of  the 
means  of  making  their  living  from  the  soil.  It  has  been 
said  that  few  members  of  the  army  which  surrendered  at 
Appamatox  did  not  toil  with  the  plow  during  the  next  few 
years.  The  land  was  the  only  form  of  capital,  and  the 
Negro  was  the  only  supply  of  labor.  These  were  the  tools 
at  hand  for  the  rebuilding  of  the  South. 

The  high  price  of  cotton  was  a  spur  to  their  efforts.    The 


The  Ruin  of  the  Old  Regime  37 

following  prices  were  quoted  for  the  years  1865-1870,  by 
M.  B.  Hammond,  in  Cotton  Industry:5  1865,  83.38c; 
1866,  43.20c;  1867,  31.59c;  1868,  24.85c;  1869, 12.01c;  1870, 
23.98c.  All  during  the  five-year  period  the  price  of  the 
crop  was  considerably  higher  than  any  level  which  it 
reached  before  the  European  War.  For  such  reward,  strong 
competition  was  set  up  among  the  planters.  Thousands  of 
Negroes  were  moved  from  the  Black  Belt  in  response  to 
the  demand,  and  every  expedient  was  resorted  to  in  order  to 
obtain  an  adequate  supply  of  labor.  The  following  letter 
from  General  Howell  Cobb  indicates  the  difficulties  of  the 
situation : 6 

December ,  1866. 

"I  find  a  worse  state  of  things  with  the  Negroes  than  I 
expected,  and  am  unable  even  to  say  what  we  shall  be  able 
to  do.  From  Nathan  Barwick's  place  every  Negro  has  left. 
There  is  no  one  to  feed  the  stock,  and  on  the  other  places 
none  have  contracted  as  yet.  I  shall  stay  here  until  I  see 
what  can  be  done.  By  Tuesday  we  shall  probably  know 
what  they  will  do.  At  all  events  I  shall  be  on  the  lookout 
for  other  Negroes.  I  intend  to  send  Nathan  Barwick  to 
Baldwin  on  Wednesday  to  see  what  hands  can  be  got  there, 
with  the  assistance  of  Wilkerson.  I  am  offering  them  even 
better  terms  than  I  gave  them  last  year,  to- wit:  one-third 
of  the  cotton  and  corn  crop,  and  they  feed  and  clothe  them- 
selves, but  nothing  satisfies  them.  Grant  them  one  thing  and 
they  demand  something  more,  and  there  is  no  telling  where 
they  would  stop.  The  truth  is,  I  am  thoroughly  disgusted 
with  the  free  Negro  labor,  and  determined  that  the  next 
year  shall  close  my  planting  operations  with  them.  There 
is  no  feeling  of  gratitude  in  their  nature.  Let  any  man 
offer  them  some  little  thing  of  no  real  value,  but  which  looks 
a  little  more  like  freedom,  and  they  catch  at  it  with  avidity, 
and  would  sacrifice  their  best  friends  without  hesitation  and 
without  regret.  That  miserable  creature  Wilkes  Flag  sent 
old  Ellick  down  to  get  the  Negroes  from  Nathan  Barwick's 

5  American   Economic   Association   Publications,   new  Series, 
1897.    The  prices  quoted  represent  the  annual  averages. 
8  Brooks,  Agrarian  Revolution,  opp.  cite  p.  21. 


38  Negro  Migration 

place.  Old  Ellick  stayed  out  in  the  woods  and  sent  for  the 
Negroes  and  they  were  bargaining  with  him  in  the  night  and 
telling  Barwick  in  the  day  that  they  were  going  to  stay 
with  him.  The  moment  they  got  their  money,  they  started 
for  the  railroad.  This  is  but  one  instance,  but  it  is  the  his- 
tory of  all  of  them.  Among  the  number  was  Anderson, 
son  of  Sye  and  Sentry,  whom  I  am  supporting  at  the  Hur- 


This  letter  was  from  one  of  the  highest  types  of  planters 
in  the  State,  who  was  operating  several  plantations.  It  indi- 
cates the  great  delimma  in  which  planters  found  themselves 
immediately  after  the  war.  It  also  illustrates  the  immediate 
effect  of  emancipation  upon  the  Negroes.  Such  keen  com- 
petition for  labor  is  not  likely  to  increase  the  reliability 
of  any  body  of  laboring  men,  and  there  is  small  wonder  that 
the  Negro,  having  just  emerged  from  slavery,  without  pre- 
vious experience  in  free  contracting,  was  completely  de- 
moralized for  the  time. 

Hard  Times  and  Cheap  Land.  The  circumstances  were 
not  only  highly  favorable  to  Neproqs,  who  desired  to  leave 
the  status  of  laborer  and  become  tenants,  but  they  were  also 
favorable  to  those  desiring  to  acquire  land  and  become 
independent  farmers.  Although  there  were  no  free  public 
lands  in  Georgia,  private  sales  of  land  were  numerous  at  the 
close  of  the  war.  Ruined  farmers  and  large  landholders 
desiring  to  reduce  the  size  of  their  holdings  in  order  that 
they  might  be  cultivated  more  efficiently  under  the  new  sys- 
tem, were  everywhere.  Much  of  the  old  field  land  which 
had  been  abandoned  during  the  plantation  era  was  available 
for  purchase,  and  the  new  "Wiregrass"  section  which  had 
been  considered  unproductive  during  the  plantation  era  was 
entered  by  farmers  in  their  desire  to  obtain  more  land  for 
cotton.  Added  to  these  causes  was  the  crop  failure  of  1865, 
1866.  Brooks  writes  that  the  "results  of  the  operations  in 
1865  and  1866  were  a  bitter  disappointment.,,  In  spite  of 
the  abnormal  price  of  the  staple  heavy  losses  were  sus- 


The  Ruin  of  the  Old  Regime  39 

tained.  Landlords  became  heavily  involved  in  debt,  and 
foreclosures  were  numerous.  "One  of  the  newspapers  of 
the  Black  Belt  in  the  years  1865  to  1872  was  full  of  adver- 
tisements of  land  for  sale.  One  issue  in  1866  contained 
sixty-eight  separate  advertisements  of  land  for  sale  aggre- 
gating 23,000  acres."  Brooks  cites  two  sales  at  public  out- 
cry, one  of  40Q  acres  in  Appling  County,  which  sold  at  10 
cents  per  acre,  and  two  entire  tracts,  one  of  400  acres  in 
Montgomery  and  one  of  200  acres  in  Decatur  County,  which 
together,  sold  for  the  lump  sum  of  $2.50.7 

Of  course  the  Negro  emerged  from  slavery  with  no  cap- 
ital, but  with  land  selling  for  these  low  prices,  only  a  little 
saving  and  foresight  were  necessary  for  making 
the  initial  payment  on  a  small  farm,  and  beginning  the  work 
of  home  building.  Only  a  small  number  of  Negroes,  how- 
ever, availed  themselves  of  this  early  opportunity  to  buy 
land.  This  group  will  be  more  fully  discussed  in  the  latter 
part  of  the  next  chapter  which  deals  more  specifically  with 
Negro  landowners.  The  majority  of  Negroes  were  too  ig- 
norant, and  too  easily  tempted  to  waste  their  wages,  to  make 
even  these  small  payments.  No  previous  training  in  thrift 
had  prepared  them  for  the  exigency  of  the  situation.  But  a 
small  number  of  landholders  did  appear  very  soon  after 
emancipation.  This  beginning  was  made  possible  by  the 
cheapness  of  the  land  and  the  crop  lien  system. 

The  Crop  Lien  System.  Of  importance  both  to  the  small 
owner  and  to  the  tenant  was  the  system  of  credit  which 
arose  out  of  the  conditions  of  agriculture.  Since  land  values 
were  so  low  and  fluctuating,  the  few  people  with  money  in 
the  South  were  unwilling  to  advance  capital  to  the  farmer 
with  land  as  the  security.  The  homestead  exemption 
amendment  to  the  Constitution  added  to  the  unwillingness 
to  accept  land  as  a  security.  This  amendment  was  passed 
in  order  to  prevent  absolute  ruin  of  farmers  by  the  numer- 

7  Brooks,  Agrarian  Revolution,  p.  38. 


40  Negro  Migration 

ous  foreclosures  of  mortgages.  It  was  introduced  in  the 
State  legislature  of  Georgia  in  1866  and  provided  that  in  the 
case  of  mortgage  foreclosure,  "an  exemption  of  realty  to  the 
value  of  $4,000  in  specie,  and  of  personal  property  to  the 
value  of  $1,000  in  specie,  be  set  apart  for  each  head  of  a 
family,  or  guardian  or  trustee  of  a  family  of  minor  chil- 
dren." 

Since  the  agriculturalists  of  the  State  were  unable  to  build 
a  substantial  system  of  credits  on  land  at  the  time,  an  expe- 
dient had  to  be  worked  out.  This  expedient  introduced  a 
new  factor  into  the  agricultural  situation,  namely  the  supply 
merchant.  Under  the  slavery  regime,  the  planter  was,  to  an 
extent,  also  a  retail  merchant,  buying  his  supplies  wholesale 
from  the  wholesale  merchants  in  Savannah,  Macon  or 
Augusta.  Under  the  post-bellum  system  the  small  land 
owner,  and  even  the  tenant,  preferred  to  deal  directly  with 
the  merchant.  During  the  early  years  of  the  crop  lien  sys- 
tem (1866-1875)  there  was  a  struggle  between  the  landlord 
and  the  merchant  for  the  right  to  hold  the  lien  upon  the  crop 
of  the  tenant.  The  landlords  preferred  to  hold  the  lien  be- 
cause they  could  regulate  the  expenditure  of  tenants  and 
would  be  justified  in  exercising  supervision  over  the  culti- 
vation in  order  to  protect  themselves  from  loss.  The  mer- 
chants wanted  to  hold  the  lien  because  they  were  advancing 
the  capital  for  tools,  stock-feed  and  groceries.  The  final 
outcome  was  expressed  in  the  Act  of  1875,  and  was  in  the 
nature  of  a  compromise.  The  landlord  was  given  the  right 
to  a  first  lien  upon  the  crop  of  a  tenant  for  his  rent,  and  the 
merchant  was  given  a  second  lien  for  supplies  advanced. 
The  lien  of  the  merchant  was  legalized  by  a  transfer  of  the 
supply  lien  from  the  planter,  in  cases  where  the  planter 
desired  to  shift  the  responsibility  from  his  shoulders  to 
those  of  the  merchant. 

The  advantages  and  disadvantages  of  this  makeshift  sys- 
tem of  credit  have  received  detailed  study  in  several  treat- 
ments of  rural  economics.8 


The  Ruin  of  the  Old  Regime  41 

The  uncertainty  of  the  risk  has,  at  times,  led  to  exorbi- 
tant interest  charges^  and  the  ignorance  of  the  tenants  has 
given  undue  advantage  to  the  merchant  in  the  supply  ac- 
counts. The  significant  feature  of  the  crop  lien  system  is, 
however,  that  it  enabled  the  South  to  bridge  over  the  diffi- 
culty of  agricultural  credits,  and  as  far  as  the  Negro  was 
concerned,  it  provided  the  opportunity  for  those  without 
capital  to  senm*  credit  for  the  stock,  tools  and  year's  pro- 
visions for  farming  operations.  It  was  one  more  method  by 
which  the  landless  laborer  could  get  a  farm,  mortgaging 
his  future  crop  in  security  for  advances  of  food  and  imple- 
ments. W.  E.  B.  DuBois  sums  its  significance  up  in  "The 
Negro  Landholder  in  Georgia,"  as  follows : 9 

A  thrifty  Negro  in  the  hands  of  well  disposed  landlords 
and  honest  merchants  early  became  an  independent  land- 
owner. A  shiftless,  ignorant  Negro,  in  the  hands  of  un- 
scrupulous landlords  or  shylocks,  became  something  worse 
than  a  slave.  The  masses  of  Negroes  between  the  two  ex- 
tremes fared  as  chance  and  the  weather  let  them." 

The  crop  lien  system  was  of  greatest  aid  to  Negroes  in 
passing  from  share  to  cash  tenancy.  As  has  been  stated,  the 
need  of  some  cash  to  make  a  payment  on  land,  deterred  the 
vast  majority  from  entering  ownership.  To  those  desiring 
to  become  independent  renters,  however,  rather  than  share 
tenants,  the  crop  lien  system  was  a  great  help.  For  many 
Negroes  the  capital  needed  to  make  this  step  was,  of  course, 
not  available.  If,  however,  they  could  find  a  landlord  who 
would  rent  them  land  and  a  house,  they  could  apply  to  the 
merchant  for  the  capital,  become  an  independent  renter  and 
mortgage  their  future  crops  to  repay  the  debt.    Under  fa- 

8  Banks,  Economics  of  Land  Tenure  in  Georgia,  opp.  cite; 
Brooks,  The  Agrarian  Revolution,  opp  cite;  DuBois,  W.  E.  B., 
"The  Negro  Landholder  in  Georgia,"  U.  S.  Department  of  Labor, 
Bulletin  No.  35,  1901. 

e  DuBois,  The  Negro  Landholder,  opp.  cite  p.  668. 


42  Negro  Migration 

vorable  circumstances,  and  with  thrift  and  foresight  a  ten- 
ant could  free  himself  of  debt  in  a  year  or  two. 

It  is  apparent  from  the  foregoing  outline  of  unsettled 
agricultural  conditions  that  many  of  the  institutions  which 
arose  were  makeshifts.  Both  the  planters  and  the  ex-slaves 
were  confronted  with  an  unprecedented  situation,  and  the 
predominant  interest  of  both  was  in  working  out  some 
system  of  cultivation  of  the  land.  It  early  became  evident 
that  the  old  plantation  system  of  labor  was  not  practicable 
under  free  competition  and  contract.  Smaller  landowners 
began  to  increase  in  number,  and  the  tenant  system  gained 
headway.  The  rapidity  with  which  this  change  took  place  is 
indicated  in  the  following  section. 

RAPIDITY  OF  THE   BREAKDOWN 

The  foregoing  account  of  the  struggle  between  planters  in 
the  endeavor  to  preserve  their  holdings,  indicates  that  it 
was  the  landlord  class  which  instituted  the  system  of  ten- 
ancy as  a  means  of  furthering  their  interests.  There  is  little 
indication  that,  at  first,  the  mass  of  Negroes  felt  the  desire 
to  become  independent  renters,  except  in  as  far  as  the  irk- 
someness  of  supervision  led  them  to  wish  to  escape  from 
share  tenancy.  As  the  tenant  system  became  established, 
however,  and  the  advantages  of  a  more  permanent  tenure 
could  be  seen,  more  and  more  of  the  Negroes  began  to  seek 
to  become  renters. 

The  breakdown  of  the  plantation  system  caused  by  the 
economic  pressure  of  competition  among  landowners,  and 
the  desire  of  the  laborers  to  gain  a  new  status  resulted  in 
three  radical  changes  indicated  by  (1)  The  reduction  in 
number  of  large  farms  operated  by  laborers  and  consequent 
growth  in  number  of  small  farms.  (2)  The  resultant  reduc- 
tion in  number  of  owners  of  large  tracts  of  land  and  the 
growth  in  number  of  owners  of  small  tracts.     (3)  The  in- 


The  Ruin  of  the  Old  Regime  43 

crease  in  number  of  farms  operated  by  tenants.  The  an- 
alyses of  each  of  these  three  changes  indicate  that  the  plan- 
tation system  is  passing,  but  that  it  is  still  in  vogue  to  some 
extent. 

The  Passing  of  Large  Farms.  The  first  indication  of  the 
disappearance  of  the  plantation  system  is  in  the  reduction  in 
the  size  of  farms  cultivated  as  a  unit.  A  reduction  in  aver- 
age size  may  indicate  that  the  large  farms  are  disappearing 
or  that  numerous  new  small  farms  are  appearing,  or  that 
both  of  these  things  are  happening.  The  census  enumerates 
as  one  farm,  any  tract  of  land  cultivated  by  one  farmer,  re- 
gardless of  who  owns  it.  In  this  way,  a  single  plantation 
of  2,000  acres,  if  cultivated  as  a  unit  by  the  owner  with 
laborers  is  enumerated  as  one  farm,  but  if  1,000  acres  are 
cultivated  with  laborers  under  the  direction  of  the  owner, 
or  overseer,  and  the  remaining  1,000  divided  into  twenty 
50-acre  tenant  farms,  it  would  be  enumerated  as  21  farms, 
1  operated  by  an  owner,  and  20  operated  by  tenants. 

The  passing  of  large  farms  as  enumerated  by  the  census, 
and  increase  of  small  farms  is,  therefore,  the  general  index 
of  the  decay  of  the  gang  labor  plantation  system  and  the 
rise  of  a  system  of  tenants  or  small  land  owners.    The  f ol^ 

TABLE  2. 

Georgia  Farms  Classified  by  Size  in  Acres,  1860-1910. 

Size  in  Acres  1860  1880  1890  1900  1910 

Under   10 906  3,211  4,438  6,055  8,700 

10  to  20 2,803  8,694  10,868  13,301  20,929 

20  to  50 13,644  36,524  55,287  73,408  117,432 

50  to  100 14,129  26,054  32,316  52,251  68,510 

100  to  500 19,843  53,635  59,343  73,100  69,985 

500  to  1,000 7,076  7,017  6,061  4,718  3,950 

1,000  and  over....  3,608  3,491  2,758  1,858  1,521 

Total  Farms 62,009      138,626      171,071      224,691      291,027 

Total  Acres  in 
thousands .  26,650        26,043        25,200        26,392        26,953 

Average  size 430  188  147  118  97 

Median  size 98  92  73  69  51 


44  Negro  Migration 

lowing  distribution  of  farms  by  size__groups  from  1860  to 
1910  gives  a  clear  picture  of  the  extent  to  which  the  pre- 
dominating type  of  farm  has  shifted  from  the  large  planta- 
tion to  the  smaller  owner  or_  tenant  farm.10 

Unfortunately  the  census  does  not  subdivide  the  farms 
over  1,000  acres  in  size.  The  rapid  decline  of  the  average 
size  of  farms  indicates  the  effect  of  these  very  large  plan- 
tations in  the  grouping.  This  rapid  decline  in  the  average 
has  been  taken  to  mean  the  disappearance  of  large  farms 
between  1860  and  1880.  But  the  number  of  farms  of  over 
500  acres  decreased  by  only  176  during  the  20-year  period 
It  is  therefore  evident  that  the  average  is  not  an  exact  index 
of  the  subdivision.  A  better  idea  is  gained  from  the  differ- 
ence of  this  arithmetic  average,  which  is  affected  by  very 
large  farms,  and  the  median,  which  is  the  size  of  the  farm 
above  which  half  of  the  number  of  farms  are  found  and 
below  which  half  are  found.  Every  large  farm  is  evi- 
dently balanced  against  one  small  farm  in  determining  the 
median.  It  will  be  noted  that  while  the  average  declined 
from  430  to  188  acres  during  the  period  from  1860  to  1880, 
the  median  declined  only  from  98  to  92  acres. 

During  the  period,  1860  to  1880,  plantations  of  over  1,000 
acres  held  their  own  in  number  but  were  being  reduced 
nearer  the  1,000  acre  type  by  subdivision  into  tenant  farms, 

10  United  States  Census  of  1910,  Agriculture,  Vol.  VI,  p.  320, 
1890;  Agriculture,  p.  116.  The  figures  for  1860  are  estimates 
based  on  the  census.  As  the  census  of  1860  enumerated 
only  Improved  Acreage  in  farms,  the  size  published  is  too  small 
to  be  comparable  with  the  later  years  which  included  all  acreage. 
This  reduced  the  number  of  large  farms  tremendously.  The 
estimate  of  Banks,  Economics  of  Land  Tenure,  p.  20-21,  was 
therefore  accepted  and  applied  to  the  1860  figures.  The  estimate 
is  close  enough  for  purposes  of  comparison.  The  figures  for 
1870  are  omitted  because  they  were  enumerated  on  the  same 
basis  of  improved  acreage  only,  and  because  the  notorious  in- 
accuracies of  this  census  made  an  estimate  based  upon  them  of 
little  value. 


The  Ruin  of  the  Old  Regime  45 

and  as  a  consequence  there  was  a  rapid  increase  in  farms 
of  under  500  acres.  The  number  of  plantations  of  500-1,000 
acres  was  about  constant.  Since  1880  the  tracts  over  500 
acres  in  size  have  decreased  in  number.  While  the  100  to 
500  acre  farms  have  increased  in  number,  their  rate  of  in- 
crease has  not  equalled  the  rate  of  increase  in  the  smaller 
groups.  By  1880,  20  to  50  acre  tenant  farms  had  become 
widespread  and  since  that  date  they  have  been  steadily  in- 
creasing in  number  and  relative  importance.  This  is  to  such 
an  extent  true  that  in  1910  this  type  was  distinctly  predom- 
inant in  the  State.  There  has  also  been  a  rapid  increase  in 
10  to  20  acre  farms.  It  has  truly  been  a  wonderful  oppor- 
tunity for  the  man  who  desired  to  obtain  a  tenure  of  land. 
These  figures  as  to  size  of  farm  represent  the  total  oppor- 
tunity to  acquire  land  both  as  a  tenant  and  as  an  owner,  due 
to  the  disintegration  of  large  operations.  The  opportunity 
in  each  has  been  ample.  The  remainder  of  this  chapter 
is  therefore  devoted  to  a  separate  discussion  of  opportunities 
as  owners  and  opportunities  as  tenants. 

Size  of  Land  Holdings.  The  bad  crop  conditions  imme- 
diately after  the  Civil  War,  and  the  difficulty  of  obtaining 
credit  have  been  mentioned  as  having  a  tremendous  effect 
on  the  price  of  land.  There  were  many  tracts  available  for 
purchasers.  Much  of  this  land  was  already  "in  farms" 
according  to  the  use  of  that  term  made  by  the  census.  Much 
of  it,  however,  consisted  of  woodland  on  the  plantations  and 
was  useless  to  owners  who  could  not  even  get  a  force  of 
laborers  adequate  to  cultivate  their  cleared  land.  Other 
tracts  of  this  "land  in  farms"  consisted  of  old  fields  which 
had  been  more  or  less  worn  out  by  the  exhaustive  cultiva- 
tion of  slave  labor.  The  planters  were  anxious  to  dispose 
of  this  surplus.  In  addition,  the  "wild"  lands  of  the  State 
provided  another  source  of  supply.  The  census  of  1860  in- 
dicates 26,650,000  acres  of  land  in  farms,  and  a  total  land 
area  of  about  37,500,000  acres.    The  difference  of  approxi- 


46  Negro  Migration 

mately  11,000,000  acres  of  land  in  the  State  was  "wild"  land 
which  had  never  been  brought  within  the  scope  of  agricultu- 
ral operations.  It  is  true  that  most  of  the  11,000,000  acres  is 
in  the  mountainous  sections  of  North  Georgia  or  the  pine 
barrens  of  the  South,  but  it  had  value.  It  was  not  free  land. 
In  many  cases  it  was  held  speculatively:  As  Banks 
states . X1 

"There  is  really  very  little  or  no  land  outside  of  the  mar- 
gin of  utilization  in  Georgia,  although  there  is  much  land 
lying  under  such  disadvantages,  either  of  fertility  or  of  sit- 
uation, that  it  is  not  actually  cultivated,  nor  will  it  be  culti- 
vated for  many  years  to  come." 

Table  2  indicates  that  by  1910,  the  census  classified  26, 
950,000  acres  as  land  in  farms.  This  is  an  increase  of 
300,000  acres  over  the  1860  figure.  It  is  therefore  evident 
that  during  the  fifty  year  period,  large  tracts  of  this  wild 
land  were  taken  up  for  agricultural  purposes. 

In  the  effort  to  trace  the  effect  of  the  breakdown  of  plan 
tations  on  the  size  of  tracts  held  by  individual  proprietors- 
Banks  examined  the  original  tax  returns  of  31  rural  coun- 

TABLE  3. 

Total   Land  Proprietorships  in  Georgia  According  to  Size  in 

Acres  in  31  Typical  Counties. 

(Compiled  from   Original  Tax  Returns.) 

Size  of  Proprietorship 

in  acres  1873  1880  1890  1902 

Under  10 193  521  1,490  2,232 

10  to  20 116  341  748  1,288 

20  to  50 905  1,765  2,540  3,712 

50  to  100 2,113  3,535  4,816  6,134 

100  to  500 10,796  12,782  14,526  15,671 

500  to  1,000 2,309  2,344  2,270  2,094 

1,000  and  over 1,337  1,302  1,178  1,047 

Total   Proprietorships..        17,769         22,590         27,568         32,178 
Total  Acreage 6,792,954    7,211,476    7,315,975    7,474,802 

Average  Acreage 382  319  265  232 

Median  Acreage 308  261  218  170 

11  Banks,  Economics  of  Land  Tenure,  pp.  31-32. 


The  Ruin  of  the  Old  Regime  47 

ties  in  Georgia.  These  counties  were  selected  from  all  sec- 
tions of  the  State  and  may  therefore  be  considered  fairly 
representative  of  the  State  as  a  whole.  The  above  table  (3) 
is  a  rearrangement  of  the  results  of  Banks'  study  and  indi- 
cates the  distribution  of  land  proprietorships  according  to 
size  in  acres^2 

This  table  indicates  that  the  predominant  type  of  holding, 
all  during  the  period  was  100  to  500  acres  in  size.  In  fact, 
this  group  contained  more  than  fifty  per  cent  of  the  holdings 
in  1873  and  but  slightly  less  than  fifty  per  cent  of  the  hold- 
ings in  1902,  and  all  during  the  period  both  the  average  and 
median  size  of  holding  fell  within  the  100  to  500  acre  group. 
The  holdings  of  more  than  500  acres  have  decreased  slightly 
in  number,  while  the  holdings  of  less  than  500  acres  have 
increased  rapidly.  This  policy  of  retaining  their  large 
tracts  as  long  as  possible  was  adhered  to  largely  because, 
among  the  Black  Belt  planters,  large  landed  estates  have 
been  and,  to  an  extent,  still  are  the  basis  of  aristocracy.  The 
proprietorship  was  held  intact  as  long  as  possible.  Some- 
times it  was  cultivated  by  laborers  and  sometimes  rented  out 
in  small  tracts  to  tenant  farmers.  Furthermore,  700,000 
acres  of  "new"  land  was  included  in  proprietorships  in  these 
counties.  (This  is  evident  in  the  table  from  the  increase 
in  total  acreage  from  6,790,000  in  1873  to  7,470,000  in 
1902.)  Much  of  this  new  land  was  taken  up  in  large  tracts 
in  the  southern  part  of  the  State  and  held  speculatively. 
The  greater  part  of  it  was  not  used  for  agriculture  immedi- 
ately, and  much  of  it  has  not  up  to  the  present  been  in- 
cluded (under  the  census  definition)  in  farms.  This  is 
indicated  by  the  fact  that  the  census  shows  an  increase  of 
only  300,000  acres  in  "land  in  farms"  in  the  whole  State 
from  1860  to  1910.  It  thus  appears  that  while  some  of  the 
large  proprietorships  have  been  divided  into  a  number  of 
small  farms,  their  disappearance  has  been  almost  balanced 

12  Banks,  opp.  cite,  Appendix  Table  D.    Distribution  corrected. 


48  Negro  Migration 

by  the  appearance  of  new  large  proprietorships  with  a 
resultant  steady  growth  in  the  total  number  of  farms.  This 
is  statistically  indicated  in  the  table  by  the  fact  that  the  aver- 
age and  median  size  in  acres  declined  so  nearly  propor- 
tionately. The  arithmetic  average  was  382  in  1873  and  232 
in  1902.  The  median,  or  that  middle  sized  farm  which  is 
larger  than  half  the  farms  and  smaller  than  half,  was  308  in 
1873  and  170  in  1902. 

The  Growth  of  Tenancy.  Although  the  foregoing  section 
indicates  that  the  increase  of  small  proprietorships  has  not 
been  very  rapid,  the  increase  in  small  tenant  tanris  has  been 
exceptional.  While  only  a  small  part  of  the  farm  land  of  the 
State  has  been  sold  off  from  the  original  tracts,  a  lar^e  part 
of.  these  original  tracts,  though  still  owned  as  unitsr  are  no 
longer  cultivated  as  units,  but  are  subdivided  into  small 
tenant  tracts,  and  enumerated  by  thejcensus,  as  separate 
farms. ...  Recognizing  the  fact  that  these  plantations,  com- 
prising many  tenant  farms,  are  different  from  the  propri- 
etorships in  other  parts  of  the  country,  the  Census  of  1910 
conducted  a  special  inquiry  as  to  the  extent  of  the  planta- 
tion system  of  the  South.  In  this  investigation  the  term 
plantation  was  not  used,  as  in  ante-bellum  days,  to  mean  a 
tract  owned  and  cultivated  altogether  by  laborers,  but 
merely  a  tract  owned  by  one  man,  and  cultivated  by  tenants 
or  laborers.  The  inquiry  covered  70  counties  of  Georgia, 
located  in  typical  sections.  It  excluded  tracts  with  less  than 
five  tenants  as  being  too  small  to  really  be  classed  as  plan- 
tations.13 j 

The  results  of  this  inquiry  indicate  that  in  the  70  counties 
there  are  6,627  plantations  with  five  or  more  tenant  farms. 
They  include  6,627  landlord  farms  and  57,003  tenant  farms. 
In  other  words  each  plantation  is  cultivated  in  part  by  the 
owner  and  in  part  by  tenants.     In  the  general  statistics  of 

18  United  States  Census  of  1910,  Agriculture,  Vol.  V.  "Plan- 
tations in  the  South,"  pp.  877,  885  and  887. 


The  Ruin  of  the  Old  Regime 


49 


agriculture  of  the  census  they  are,  therefore,  not  enumerated 
as  6,627  farms,  but  as  63,030  farms. 

This  picture  shows  that  the  plantations  in  1910  were  by 
no  means" TiK*e"tHe  ante-bellum  plantations  which  consisted 
solely  of:  large  tracts  cultivated  by  ffangs  of  laborers  who 
rnseat  the  tap  of  the  farm  bell  and_worked  under  the  direc- 
tion  of  the  overseer.  The  extent  of  acreage  still  remaining 
in  owner  farms  indicates  that  a  considerable  amount  of 
land  is  still  cultivated  in  this  manner.  In  the  plantations  of 
Georgia  the  average  size  of  owner  farm,  the  part  of  the 
plantation  still  cultivated  by  hired  laborers,  is  316.9  acres. 
On  the  large  plantations,  those  containing  over  fifty  tenants, 
this  average  rises  to  1,265.3  acres.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
appearance  of  57,007  tenant  farms  within  the  bounds  of  the 
plantation  indicate  a  wholesale  subdivision  of  the  original 
farm  into  units  varying  in  size  from  35  to  65  acres.  The 
inquiry  indicates  that  of  the  5,200,000  acres  in  all  Georgia 
plantations,  3,100,000,  or  almost  two-thirds  of  the  acreage, 
is  in  tenant  farms. 

TABLE  4. 
Classification  of  Georgia  Farms  by  Tenure. 


■Number  operated  by 


• — Per  cent  op.  by — » 


u 

a 

CO 

H 

6 

fa 

3 

fa 

< 

CO 

u 

a 

O 

co 

a 
a 
5 

co 

H 

A 

CO 

S3 

U 

CO 

a 

a 

<u 
H 
<u 

in 

CO 

u 

CU 

B 

fa 

8 
to 

< 

CO 

fa 

V 

a 

o 

CO 

a 
a 
c 

H 

CO 

u 

CO 

C 

C 

<u 

H 

CL) 
fa 

3 

U1 

1880    

1890    

1900    

1910    

Increase 

1880-1910 
Per  cent 

increase 

138,626 
170,071 
224,691 
291,027 

152,401 

110.0 

76,451  | 

79,477  | 

90,131  | 

100,047  | 

1 
23,596  | 

31.1 1 

18,557 
29,413 
58,750 
82,387 

63,830 

342.9 

43,618 

62,181 

75,810 

108,593 

64,975 

148.9 

100.0 
100.0 
100.0 
100.0 

55.2 
46.5 
40.1 
34.4 

13.4 
17.2 
26.1 
28.3 

31.5 
36.3 

33.7 
37.3 

50  Negro  Migration 

The  growth  of  tenancy  is  indicated  by  the  following 
figures  from  the  successive  censuses  of  Agriculture : 14 

It  thus  appears  that,  during  the  first  fifteen  years  after 
emancipation,  i.  e.  1865-1880,  the  tenant  system  had  gotten 
well  under  way.  By  1880  there  had  been  a  change  from  an 
ante-bellum  system,  in  which  practically  all  farms  were  op- 
erated on  a  large  scale  by  owners,  to  a  system  under  which 
only  55.2  per  cent  of  the  farms  were  operated  *by  owners. 
Cash  tenancy  had,  however,  made  no  great  progress  by 
1880,  or  even  as  late  as  1890.  According  to  the  above 
table,  only  29,413,  or  17.2  per  cent  of  the  total  farms  were 
operated  by  cash  tenants  in  1890.  Since  1880,  however, 
both  cash  and  share  tenancy  have  been  increasing  at  a 
greater  rate  than  the  ownership.  From  1880  to  1910  there 
was  an  increase  of  152,401  farms  in  the  State.  Of  this 
increase  only  23,596  was  in  new  owner  operated  farms  while 
63,830  was  in  cash  tenant  farms  and  64,975  in  share  tenant 
farms.  The  rate  of  increase  has  been  31.0  among  owners, 
148.9  among  share  tenants  and  342.9  among  renters  or  cash 
tenants.  This  greater  rate  of  increase  in  the  tenant  groups  and 
especially  in  the  group  of  renters  has  changed  the  distribu- 
tion of  farms  so  that  only  one-third  of  all  farms  were  oper- 
ated by  owners  in  1910,  whereas  over  one-half  were  oper- 
ated by  owners  in  1880.  On  account  of  the  tremendous  rate  of 
increase  of  farms  operated  by  cash  tenants,  28.3  per  cent  of 
all  farms  were  operated  by  this  group  in  1910  as  against 
13.4  per  cent  in  1880.  In  other  words,  all  classes  of  farms 
have  increased  rapidly  in  the  past  30  years.  The  rate  of 
increase  has  been  fastest  in  the  cash  tenant  group,  next  in 
the  share  tenant  group,  and  while  the  owners  have  increased 
slightly  in  numbers,  their  rate  of  increase  has  been  far  ex- 
ceeded by  the  tenant  classes.  This  differing  rate  of  in- 
crease in  the  classes  holds  good  throughout  the  period. 

14  United  States  Census  of  Agriculture,  Vol.  V.,  p.  126.  Cen- 
sus figures  do  not  seperate  farms  by  tenure  before  1880. 


The  Ruin  of  the  Old  Regime  51 

The  single  exception  is  found  in  share  tenancy  between 
1890  and  1900.  During  this  period,  cash  tenancy  increased 
at  such  a  tremendous  rate  that  share  tenancy  lost  a  little 
ground  relatively. 

In  addition  to  providing  greater  opportunity  as  an  owner 
and  tenant,  the  breakdown  of  the  plantation  system  has  in- 
fluenced Negro  life  in  another  fundamental  aspect.  It  has 
brought  competition  with  white  men.  White  farm  labor  is 
on  the  increase  in  Georgia,  hnt  in  the  counties  in  which 
Negroes  constitute  the  majority,  Negro  farm  lahorprq  are 
almosf^exclusively  employed.  Under  the  ante-bellum  sys- 
tem this  was  true  of  the  whole  State.  As  long,  therefore, 
as  the  Negro  remained  in  the  Black  Belt,  and  the  gang  labor 
prevailed,  he  was  the  laborer  and  the  white  man  the  "boss" 
in  all  cases.  The  rise  of  white  and  Negro  tenancy  has,  how- 
ever, thrown  the  Negro  into  competition  with  the  white  men 
for  farms. 

The  figures  as  to  increase  in  tenancy  cited  above  include 
both  the  white  and  the  colored  tenants. 

Since  the  whole  labor  force  immediately  after  the  Civil 
War  was  composed  of  Negroes,  it  is  but  natural  that  they 
should  have  participated  to  the  greatest  extent  in  this  rise  of 
tenancy.  Of  late,  however,  the  increase  in  white  tenants 
has  been  more  rapid.  Today  it  is  not  unusual  even  in  the 
heart  of  the  Black  Belt  to  find  a  settlement  of  small  white 
owners  or  tenants.  Many  mountaineers  have  moved  down 
and  availed  themselves  of  this  opportunity  to  cultivate  the 
more  fertile  lands.  The  extent  to  which  the  colored  man  has 
held  his  place  on  the  farm  and  entered  the  owner  and  tenant 
classes  is  indicated  by  the  following  chapter. 


CHAPTER  III 

THE  NEGRO'S   AGRICULTURAL  OPPORTUNITY. 

All  during  the  period  of  the  change  from  the  plantation 
system  to  a  system  of  small  owners  and  tenants  the  Negro 
has  had  exceptional  agricultural  opportunity.  The  previous 
chapter  made  it  plain  that  many  landlords  were  forced  by 
circumstances  to  give  up  the  labor  system.  The  extent  to 
which  the  Negro  has  been  able  to  benefit  himself  by  the 
situation  has  been  dependent  upon  several  factors.  The 
chief  considerations  have  been:  The  willingness  or  unwill- 
ingness of  the  landlords  to  rent  their  land  to  Negroes  rather 
than  cultivate  it  with  laborers ;  the  extent  to  which  they  as 
tenants  have  been  able  to  withstand  white  competition,  and 
the  limited  capital  and  foresight  which  they  had  when  eman- 
cipated. 

THE  WHITE  MAN'S  AID  AND  COMPETITION 

Though  ignorance  and  lack  of  previous  training  in  thrift 
and  foresight  have  often  made  individual  colored  men  easy 
victims  of  economic  exploitation,  the  fundamental  interests 
of  the  two  races  of  the  South  have  been  one.  Even  during  the 
period  of  reconstruction  when  race  friction  was  greatly  in- 
creased by  efforts  to  secure  political  domination  for  the  Ne- 
gro, it  cannot  be  said  that  there  was  an  inter-racial  struggle 
for  other  than  political  existence  in  the  South.  The  common 
interests  were  those  arising  from  the  necessity  of  rebuilding 
the  agricultural  system  and  establishing  a  system  of  rural 
credits,  farm  management,  marketing,  and  social  institu- 
tions which  would  enable  the  two  races  to  work  side  by  side 
for  the  welfare  of  Southern  society  with  a  minimum  of  fric- 
tion. It  has  involved  competition  between  the  members  of 
the  two  races  for  tenure  of  land,  but  this  is  competition  in  its 


The   Negro's  Agricultural   Opportunity        53 

broadest  sense,  and  has  not  been  keen.  The  land  has  been 
too  plentiful  and  the  opportunity  for  all  too  ample  for  it  to 
be  a  struggle. 

It  is  not  unusual  to  find  that  whereas  a  Negro  is  compet- 
ing with  one  white  man  for  a  farm,  another  white  man,  the 
son  or  relative  of  the  family  who  owned  the  Negro's  family 
in  slavery,  is  helping  the  colored  man  m  his  operations  with 
advice,  loans,  or  legal  aid.  Though  these  family  or  personal 
relations  are  lessening  as  the  patriarchial  contacts  of  slavery 
recede  further  into  the  past,  many  such  bonds  still  exist. 
There  is  no  doubt  that  much  of  the  success  attained  by 
Negroes  is  due  to  this  friendly  aid  by  white  people.  The 
statement  which  Booker  T.  Washington  made  concerning 
his  observation  of  this  relation  during  a  tour  of  South 
Carolina  indicates  the  extent  of  the  personal  or  family  aid. 
"Everywhere  I  went,"  he  said,  "I  found  at  least  one  white 
man  who  believed  implicitly  in  one  Negro,  and  one  Negro 
who  believed  implicitly  in  one  white  man ;  and  so  it  goes  all 
through  the  South."  This  relation  between  members  of  the 
two  races  is  little  understood  elsewhere,  mainly  because  the 
popular  belief  as  to  race  relations  is  largely  moulded  by  sen- 
sational accounts  of  indications  of  race  friction,  which  make 
such  readable  "news  stories."  It  has,  however,  been  aptly 
summed  up  in  the  statement  that  the  North  believes  in  the 
Negro  as  a  race  and  condemns  him  as  an  individual,  while 
the  South  believes  in  him  as  an  individual  and  condemns 
him  as  a  race. 

As  long  as  this  personal  relation  holds,  the  race  relations 
can  in  no  wise  be  construed  as  involving  an  inter-racial 
struggle  for  existence.  It  is  rather  a  bi- racial  effort  to  meet 
the  economic  and  social  forces  squarely.  This  effort  often 
goes  deeper  than  the  personal  relations  of  the  parties  to 
an  action. 

It  is  a  matter  of  future  speculation  as  to  just  what  will 
happen  when  the  opportunity  becomes  less  ample,  the  com- 
petition becomes  sharper,  and  the  family  relations  which 


54  Negro  Migration 

now  exist  pass  away  with  the  generations  which  are  close 
to  slavery.  There  can  hardly  be  a  doubt  that  the  inter- 
racial struggle  will  be  intensified  in  some  respects,  especially 
in  the  cities  where  industrial  competition  springs  up.  In 
fact,  in  some  city  occupations  the  Negro  is  already  begin- 
ning to  feel  the  pressure  of  competition.  To  quote  again 
from  Booker  Washington's  speeches :  "In  some  schools  the 
Negro  has  been  so  busy  studying  Latin  and  Greek  that  the 
Greeks  and  Italians  have  come  over  to  America  and  taken 
their  jobs  as  waiters  and  bootblacks." 

The  changes  which  took  place  in  the  past  twelve  years 
in  the  pressing  establishments  of  Athens,  Ga.,  illustrate  the 
manner  in  which  white  competition  operates.  Less  than 
twelve  years  ago  all  of  the  pressing  shops  of  the  town  were 
operated  by  Negroes,  who  sometimes  hired  assistants.  White 
capital,  however,  introduced  better  irons,  more  responsibil- 
ity, and  delivery  wagons,  and  now  there  is  only  one  pressing 
establishment  owned  by  a  Negro,  and  it  receives  most  of 
its  revenue  through  tailoring  done  by  its  owner.  There  are 
five  or  six  large  pressing  establishments  owned  and  super- 
vised by  white  men,  the  actual  labor  being  done  by  Negroes. 
Thus  they  have  been  driven  downward  in  the  same  line  of 
work  from  owners  to  hired  helpers.  A  similar  change  has 
taken  place  in  the  barber  shops.  One  can  readily  see 
by  looking  at  the  shops  that  it  was  not  prejudice  against 
the  Negro  in  these  lines  which  drove  him  from  the  field. 
It  was  inability  to  compete  successfully. 

The  chief  question  which  confronts  people  who  plan  fu- 
ture programs  for  the  Negro  is:  Will  competition  in  the 
future  drive  the  Negro  downward  in  all  lines,  as  it  has  in 
these  business  enterprises  and  in  some  trades  in  the  city? 
This  question  will  be  one  of  nation  wide  importance  when- 
ever the  reaction  from  war  conditions  causes  a  contrac- 
tion in  industry  in  some  of  the  centers  which  have  received 
many  Negro  migrants.    As  far  as  the  rural  Negro  is  con- 


The   Negro's  Agricultural   Opportunity        55 

cerned,  two  facts  indicate  that  if  competition  affects  him 
materially  it  will  be  at  a  distantly  future  date.  One  is 
that  great  masses  of  Negro  agricultural  laborers,  concen- 
trated in  Black  Belt  counties,  have  tended  to  make  white 
labor  seek  other  fields  of  employment.  Only  recently  have 
white  men  begun  to  compete  with  the  Negroes  in  this  area. 
The  second  is  that,  while  the  Negroes  in  the  cities  have 
been  driven  downward  from  owners  of  small  businesses 
into  the  ranks  of  employed  help,  the  Negroes  in  the  country 
districts,  starting  at  the  lowest  rung  in  the  ladder,  that  of 
laborer,  have  tended  to  climb  into  the  ranks  of  tenant  and 
owner.  In  fact  it  seems  more  likely  that  the  disadvantages 
of  his  lot  in  the  Black  Belt  will  drive  the  Negro  away  from 
his  farm  opportunity  before  white  competition  exerts  much 
pressure.  If,  in  the  face  of  increasing  competition,  there  is 
to  be  a  platform  upon  which  the  races  can  work  together 
in  the  future  as  in  the  past,  it  will  arise  from  the  mutual 
interests  of  white  and  colored  people.  Since  the  South  is 
so  predominantly  rural,  it  is  probable  that  the  majority  of 
these  interests  will  be  found  in  the  institutions  of  rural  life 
and  land  tenure. 

In  the  meantime  there  is  a  growing  group  of  colored 
people  which  will  help  work  out  these  mutual  interests.  It 
consists  of  the  land-holders,  home-owners  and  tenants  who 
become  more  or  less  attached  to  the  land.  The 
foregoing  chapter  indicates  fully  that  the  Negroes  in  Geor- 
gia can  no  longer  be  divided  from  white  people  by  a  sharp 
line  of  economic  cleavage.  In  contrast  with  the  conditions 
before  the  Civil  War,  when  all  Negroes  were  laborers  and 
all  white  people  were  land-owners  or  overseersT  the  condi- 
tion now  is  that  while  the  majority  of  the  colored  people  are 
laborers,  some  colored  people  and  some  white  people  are 
tenants,  and  some  of  both  races  are  land-owners.  The  im- 
perative econornTc~anT^ooMne^  the  counties  in  which 
large  numbers  of  Negroes  have  taken  advantage  of  their 
opportunities  to  become  owners  and  tenants  is  that  they  be 


56  Negro  Migration 

efficient,  productive  and  capable  of  contributing  to  the  im- 
provement of  the  living  conditions  of  the  neighborhood. 
The  extent  to  which  race  friction  is  allayed  in  the  future 
will  depend  upon  the  success  of  the  leaders  of  the  two  races 
in  working  out  a  system  of  institutions  adapted  to  this  end ; 
upon  the  length  of  time  which  elapses  before  the  land  is 
filled  up  and  before  competition  becomes  sharper ;  and  upon 
the  degree  to  which  Negroes  avail  themselves  of  their  pres- 
ent opportunity  to  become  attached  to  the  land. 

During  the  past  fifty  years  the  Negro  in  Georgia,  and 
all  over  the  South  for  that  matter,  has  certainly  showed  a 
marked  tendency  to  become  a  more  independent  farmer. 
The  extent  to  which  he  has  availed  himself  of  his  oppor- 
tunity in  agriculture  has  furnished  grounds  for  op- 
timism from  some  people  and  for  pessimism  from  others. 
Noting  that  he  started  as  a  landless  slave,  the  optimists  point 
to  the  acquisition  of  land  and  the  entrance  into  the  higher 
classes  of  tenure  as  indicating  that  no  race  on  earth  has 
made  such  progress,  under  such  conditions,  in  fifty  years. 
W.  E.  B.  DuBois  remarks  in  the  Negro  Landholder  in 
Georgia  (p.  648)  that, 

"No  such  curious  and  reckless  experiment  in  emancipation 
has  been  made  in  modern  times.  Certainly  it  would  not 
have  been  unnatural  to  suspect  that  under  the  circumstances 
the  Negroes  would  become  a  mass  of  poverty  stricken  vaga- 
bonds and  criminals  for  many  generations  to  come,  and  yet 
this  has  been  far  from  the  case." 

On  the  other  hand  pessimists  note  the  almost  unparalleled 
opportunity  which  the  Negro  has  had  to  acquire  a  land 
tenure,  and  the  aid  which  he  has  received  in  individual 
cases  from  white  friends.  From  this  they  conclude  that 
there  have  been  fundamental  racial  traits  which  account  for 
the  fact  that  such  a  small  proportion  of  the  Negro  popula- 
tion has  availed  itself  of  the  opportunities.  The  truth  prob- 
ably  lies   half   way   between   the   two.     The   Negro   has 


The   Negro's  Agricultural   Opportunity        57 

made  remarkable  progress,  that  is  to  say  a  portion  of  the 
race  has.  This  progress  was  aided  by  the  favorable  cir- 
cumstances which  have  been  outlined.  Nevertheless,  lack 
of  foresight  and  thrift,  and  absence  of  previous  training 
has  kept  the  masses  of  Negroes  from  participating  in  this 
advance.  The  significant  fact  is,  however,  that  an  increas- 
ing though  small  number  of  Negroes  is  passing  from  the 
status  of  laborer  to  that  of  tenant  and  owner.  The  degree 
to  which  this  is  taking  place  in  Georgia  is  indicated  in  the 
following  treatment  of  the  growth  of  ownership  and  tenancy 
among  the  Negroes. 

NEGRO   LAND-OWNERS. 

1.  Number  of  Holdings. — According  to  the  census  of 
1910,  15,815  farms  were  operated  by  Negro  owners  in 
Georgia.  These  owners  represent  only  3.6  per  cent  of  the 
Negro  rural  population  over  25  years  of  age,  but  it  is  sig- 
nificant that  this  number  of  land-holders  has  appeared  in 
50  years  from  among  a  people  who  were,  at  the  beginning 
of  the  period,  almost  entirely  unlettered  and  characterized 
as  lacking  in  any  degree  of  foresight.  The  number  of 
Negroes  operating  owned  farms,  as  enumerated  by  the  cen- 
sus, is  somewhat  less  than  the  number  owning  land  as  re- 
ported on  the  books  of  the  comptroller  general  of  the  State. 
This  is  due  to  the  fact  that  the  "improved  land"  reported 
to  the  comptroller  general  for  taxation  includes  some  tracts 
of  rural  land  which  are  not  operated  as  farms.  In  1903, 
Banks  worked  out  the  number  of  Negro  landholdings  from 
the  original  tax  digests  of  the  State  and  concluded  that 
there  were  18,700  Negro  landholdings  as  against  11,583 
Negroes  reported  as  operating  owned  farms  by  the  census 
of  1900.  It  is  therefore  probable  that  the  actual  number 
of  tracts  of  land  owned  by  Negroes  was  from  two-fifths  to 
two- thirds  higher  than  the  number  of  tracts  reported  by 
the   census  as  utilized  for  agriculture  by  Negro  owners 


58  Negro  Migration 

operating  farms,1  and  that  in  1910  there  were  more  than 
20,000  owners  of  rural  land  in  Georgia. 

The  growth  of  these  land-holdings  is  indicated  by  the  fol- 
lowing figures  from  Banks'  study  of  land-ownership  in 
Georgia : 2 

TABLE  5. 
Georgia  Land  Owners  Distributed  According  to  Size  of  Tracts 
Owned  in  31  Typical  Counties. 
Acreage —  Number  of  Tracts 

1873  1880  1890  1902 

Negro  Land-owners — 

Under  10 57  231  950  1,450 

10  to  20 19  154  372  713 

20  to  50 88  434  678  1,068 

50  to  100 107  451  664  883 

100  to  500 237  576  802  1,048 

500  to  1,000 6  17  39  50 

1,000  and  over a  2  5  9 

Total  Land-owners...  514  1,865  3,510  5,221 

Total  Acreage 58,556       174,940       249,469       336,216 

Average  Acreage 114  94  71  64 

Median  Acreage 93  63  49  33 

White   Land-owners — 

Under  10 136  290  540  782 

10  to  20 97  187  376  575 

20  to  50 817  1,331  1,862  2,644 

50  to  100 2,006  3,084  4,152  5,251 

100  to  500 10,559  12,206  13,724  14,623 

500  to  1,000 2,303  2,327  2,231  2,044 

1,000  and  over 1,337  1,300  1,173  1,038 

Total  Land-owners...        17,255         20,725         24,058         26,957 
Total  Acreage 6,734,398    7,036,536    7,066,506    7,138,586 

Average  Acreage 389  340  294  265 

Median  Acreage 311  279  249  216 

It  is  to  be  remembered  (see  ante  p.  47)  that  these  fig- 
ures cover  somewhat  less  than  one-third  of  the  land-hold- 
ings of  the  State.  They  were  gathered  by  examination  of 
the  tax  digests  of  31  typical  counties,  and  are  representa- 
tive of  general  tendencies  to  acquire  land  and  typical  size 
of  holdings.    The  total  number  of  land-holders  in  the  State 

1  Banks,  Economics  of  Land  Tenure,  p.  73. 

2  Banks,  opp.  cite,  Appendix.    Table  B  and  C. 


The  Negro's  Agricultural   Opportunity        59 

is  from  three  to  four  times  the  number  in  these  31  counties. 
This  indicates  that  only  about  one  proprietorship  in  six 
was,  in  1902,  a  Negro  proprietorship.  At  the  same  time, 
the  increase  from  514  Negro  proprietorships  in  1873  to 
5,221  in  1902  indicates  that  while  the  number  of  Negro 
proprietorships  is  smallr  the  rate  of  increase  is  extremely 
fast.  The  white  proprietorships  are  also  increasing,  but 
not  at  so  great  a  rate.  In  1902  they  numbered  26,957,  as 
against  17,255  in  1873,  an  increase  of  over  50  per  cent.  The 
old  plantation  area  is  therefore  to  some  extent  being  re- 
distributed in  smaller  holdings.  The  Negro  is  acquiring  a 
few  of  these  parcels. 

2.  Size  of  Holdings. — The  chief  point  of  difference  in  the 
Negro  holdings  and  the  white  holdings  is  found  in  the  dif- 
ference in  size.  All  over  the  State  the  colored  landlords 
own  much  smaller  tracts  than  those  of  the  white  landlords. 
Thg_  distributions  of  landholdings  in  Table  5  indicates 
that  the  median  size  of  Negro  holding  in  1902  was  33  acres, 
while  the  median  size  of  white  holding  was  216  acres. 
Alldunng  the  period  trom  1873  to  1902,  both  the  average 
and  median  size  of  white  holding  occurred  in  the  100  to  500 
acre  group,  the  average  size  of  Negro  holding  moved  from 
the  100  to  500  acre  to  the  50  to  100  acre  group  in  1880, 
since  that  date  it  has  decreased  from  94  to  64  acres. 
The  fact  that  the  median  size  of  Negro  holding  has  de- 
creased by  one-half,  i.  e.,  from  63  to  33,  while  the  average 
size  has  decreased  by  only  one-third,  indicates  the  great 
effect  which  the  few  exceptional  Negro  land-holders  owning 
over  500  acres  have  on  the  arithmetic  average.  One  of 
these  1,000  acre  holdings  has  more  effect  than  50  of  the 
20  acre  holdings,  in  the  determination  of  the  average.  The 
median,  on  the  other  hand,  is  not  affected  by  these  excep- 
tional cases,  and  the  rapid  growth  of  the  large  number  of 
small  farms  especially  in  the  groups  under  50  acres,  lower 
the  median  rapidly. 


60  Negro  Migration 

Another  point  of  difference  in  the  increase  of  white  and 
colored  ownership  is  found  in  the  fact  that  the  total  acreage 
owned  by  Negroes  increased  from  58,000  in  1873  to  336,000 
in  1902,  while  the  total  acreage  owned  by  whites  increased 
from  6,700,000  to  7,100,000.  This  is  an  increase  of  280,000 
acres  owned  by  colored  people  and  400,000  owned  by  white 
people,  but  a  percentage  increase  of  about  600  in  colored 
acreage  as  against  6  in  white  acreage.  This  is  readily  un- 
derstood when  it  is  realized  that  the  colored  people  in  1873 
owned  a  very  small  amount  of  land,  and  they  could  increase 
their  holdings  in  two  ways,  first  by  buying  farm  land  from 
white  farmers,  and  second  by  taking  up  new  "unimproved 
lands."  The  white  people,  on  the  other  hand,  owned  practi- 
cally all  of  the  land  in  cultivation  in  1873,  and  the  only  way 
for  them  to  increase  their  holdings  was  to  take  up  new  land. 
It  is  extremely  doubtful  if  Negro  holdings  will  at  any  early 
date  approximate  white  holdings  either  in  number,  or  in 
total  amount  of  land  owned.  Such  a  state  of  affairs  may 
come  about  in  a  few  counties  where  the  Negroes  are  massed 
and  outnumber  the  whites.  In  a  few  of  the  Atlantic  Coast 
counties  the  Negro  owners  have  for  years  outnumbered  the 
white  owners.  Even  where  they  are  in  the  large  majority, 
the  holdings  of  colored  farmers  are  so  much  smaller  than 
the  holdings  of  white  farmers  that  the  total  amount  of  their 
land  is  much  less  than  that  owned  by  whites. 

3.  Localities  of  Negro  Land-owners. — These  Negro  land- 
holdings  were  localized  at  first  in  two  centers.  The  one 
began  in  the  Coast  Counties  and  extended  eastward 
slightly  into  the  Wiregrass.  The  second  occupied  the  area 
about  four  counties  square  in  the  southwestern  corner  of 
the  State.  In  the  Coast  Counties  the  breakdown  of  the  plan- 
tations was  rapid.  This  section  was,  before  emancipation, 
the  seat  of  the  largest  slave  holders,  and  the  Negroes  were 
overwhelmingly  in  the  majority.  The  rice  plantations  were 
located  in  this  region.  These  and  the  sea  island  cotton  plan- 
tations required  ditching  and  banking,  for  which  great  gangs 


The   Negro's  Agricultural   Opportunity        6i 

of  slaves  were  necessary.  In  1860  the  average  slave-holding 
of  the  Coast  section  was  20,  while  the  average  for  the  rest 
of  the  State  was  11.  Emancipation,  of  course,  brought  the 
greatest  disorganization  to  this  region.3 

After  emancipation,  the  planters  without  capital  were  un- 
able to  hold  the  ex-slaves  in  such  large  gangs.  Some 
Negroes  departed  and  took  up  holdings  in  the  counties 
just  westward  where  wild  land  was  plentiful  and  the  value 
of  the  rice  land  was  so  reduced  that  many  of  those  remain- 
ing were  able  to  buy  parts  of  their  original  plantation  in 
small  tracts.  Conditions  in  Mcintosh  and  Liberty,  two 
typical  counties  in  this  region,  are  shown  below : 4 

TABLE  6. 

Landholdings    in    1903. 

Mcintosh  Liberty  Decatur  Mitchell 

County  County  County  County 

Negro  Holdings — 

Number   692  1,134  647  144 

Acres  Owned...   13,854  48,675  50,930  22,249 

Average  Acreage         20  43  77  155 

White  Holdings — 

Number   237  861  1,824  955 

Acres  Owned...   55,728  307,351  590,772  300,215 

Average  Acreage       235  357  324  314 

It  is  evident  that  in  this  region  a  few  white  owners  re- 
tain the  greater  portion  of  the  land,  but  a  large  number  of 
small  tracts  have  been  taken  up  by  Negroes. 

Somewhat  the  same  situation  is  found  in  the  southwestern 
corner  of  the  Black  Belt,  as  is  illustrated  by  Decatur  and 
Mitchell  counties  in  the  above  table. 

It  appears  that  in  these  counties  the  Negro  has  acquired 
a  large  number  of  small  holdings.    Neither  in  number,  nor 

3  Brooks,  R.  P.,  Agrarian  Revolution,  opp.  cite,  p.  110-111; 
Banks,  E.  M.,  Economics  of  Land  Tenure,  opp.  cite,  p.  65; 
Leigh,  F.  B.,  Ten  Years  on  a  Georgia  Plantation  Since  the 
War.     London,  Richard  Bentley  &  Son,  1883,  pp.  263.264. 

4  Banks,  Economics  of  Land  Tenure,  Appendix,  Table  A. 


62  Negro  Migration 

in  extent,  however,  do  the  holdings  approximate  those  of  the 
whites.  These  Negro  holdings  were  made  possible  by  the 
fact  that  the  counties  were,  in  1860,  just  beginning  to  become 
plantation  counties.  The  planters  were  pushing  southward  in 
search  of  new  lands  to  replace  the  worn  out  lands  of  the 
Black  Belt.  Large  tracts  were  available  for  their  purposes 
in  Southwest  Georgia,  and  they  moved  in  with  their  slaves, 
extending  the  old  Black  Belt  area  into  this  section.  Upon 
emancipation,  the  Negroes  found  it  possible  to  acquire  tracts 
of  uncleared  land  in  the  neighborhood  of  their  old  planta- 
tions. In  recent  years  this  movement  of  land-owners  has 
extended  westward  from  the  coast  and  eastward  and  south- 
ward from  the  Black  Belt  into  the  Wiregrass  section.  In 
this  latter  section,  in  1900,  there  were  7,322  farms  operated 
by  Negroes,  of  which  2,390  or  32.6  per  cent  were  operated 
by  owners.  By  1910  the  number  of  farms  operated  by 
Negroes  increased  to  16,643,  of  which  3,578  or  21.5  per 
cent  were  operated  by  owners.  This  is  an  increase  of  about 
one-half  in  the  number  of  Negro  farm  owners  for  the 
decade  of  1900-1910.5 

There  are  a  number  of  Negro  owned  farms  in  the  Black 
Belt,  outside  of  the  coastal  region,  but  in  proportion  to  the 
Negro  population  in  this,  area  the  number  is  small.  Here 
the  larger  part  of  the  farms  are  operated  by  Ne- 
groes, but  only  5,404  of  the  58,776  Negro  farms  in  this 
area  in  1900  were  operated  by  owners  and  the  remainder 
were  operated  by  tenants.  That  is  to  say  only  9.2  per  cent 
of  Negroes  in  the  Black  Belt  (including  the  southwest 
corner)  who  were  operating  farms  owned  them.  This  num- 
ber increased  from  5,404  in  1900  to  7,648  in  1910.  Since 
the  tenant  classes  were  increasing  more  rapidly,  the  percen- 
tage of  farms  in  the  Black  Belt  operated  by  owners  fell 
from  9.2  to  9.13.  The  numerical  increase  of  from  5,404 
to  7,648  indicates  that  Negroes  are  also  beginning,  to  some 
extent,  to  acquire  land  in  the  Black  Belt. 

5  Compiled  from  census  of  1910. 


The   Negro's  Agricultural   Opportunity        63 

The  same  is  true  of  ownership  in  the  Upper  Piedmont. 
In  1900  only  10  per  cent  of  the  Negro  farms  were  operated 
by  owners.  The  number  of  Negro  farms  was  12,781,  and 
the  number  of  owners  was  only  1,371.  By  1910  the  num- 
ber of  farms  operated  by  Negroes  increased  to  18,295,  of 
which  2,053  were  operated  by  owners.  It  is  evident  that 
while  the  number  of  owners  in  the  Upper  Piedmont  was 
small  up  to  1900,  since  1900  there  has  been  a  marked  in- 
crease. 

A  summary  of  the  foregoing  facts  indicates  that  land- 
ownership  among  Negroes  has  made  some  headway  in  the 
Coast  and  southwest  counties  of  the  Black  Belt,  but  very 
little  in  other  parts  of  the  Black  Belt.  It  has  recently  ex- 
tended into  the  Wiregrass  and  Upper  Piedmont.  In  all 
parts  of  the  State,  however,  the  Negro  holdings  are  small, 
and  the  tendency  is  toward  still  smaller  holdings,  which 
approximate  in  size  the  20  to  50  acre,  or  one  man  farm. 

NEGRO    TENANTS. 

As  tenant  farmers  the  Negroes  of  Georgia  operate  over 
5,700,000  acres  of  land,  or  considerably  more  than  one-fifth 
of  all  land  in  farms.  More  than  4,100,000  acres  of  this 
land  is  classed  by  the  census  as  improved.  The  aggregate 
value  of  the  land,  buildings  and  farm  implements  and  ma- 
chinery of  Negro  tenant  farms  is  more  than  $115,000,000. 
In  addition  there  were  on  their  farms  79,000  dairy  cows, 
20,000  work  horses  and  94,000  work  mules.  In  1909  their 
farms  produced  827,000  bales  of  cotton  and  5,880,000  bush- 
els of  corn.  Thus  almost  one-fourth  of  the  agricultural 
capital  of  the  State  is  used  by  Negro  tenants,  and  a  large 
share  of  the  agricultural  production  is  due  to  their  labor. 
The  interests  of  the  State  are  vitally  bound  up  with  what 
these  tenants  do  and  how  well  they  use  the  capital  entrusted 
to  them.    The  steps  by  which  Negro  tenants  have  attained 


64  Negro  Migration 

this  pre-eminant  importance  have  been  determined  by  the 
breakdown  of  the  plantation  system  and  the  growth  of  ten- 
ancy which  were  outlined  in  the  previous  chapter. 

The  growth  in  numbers  of  Negro  tenants  has  naturally 
been  much  greater  than  the  growth  in  number  of  owners. 
It  requires  no  capital  to  become  a  share  tenant,  and  very 
little  capital  to  become  a  cash  tenant.  It  is  also  less  of  a 
step  toward  independence  for  a  laborer  to  cultivate  the  crop 
on  shares,  with  the  supervision  Of  the  landlord,  than  to 
cultivate  it  without  supervision  as  a  cash  tenant  or  the 
owner.  3n  evertheless,  the  foregoing  chapter  indicates  that 
between  1880  and  1900  the  cash  tenant  class  showed  a 
very  great  rate  of  increase!  This  is"  due  to  the  fact  that 
the  breakdown  of  plantations  was  very  rapid,  and  that  in 
their  efforts  to  keep  their  plantations  going,  the  landlords 
abandoned  the  share  system.  Then  both  white  and  colored 
men  had  ample  opportunity  to  rent  lands.  Since  1900  the 
movement  has  slowed  down  somewhat,  and  the  cash  tenant 
class  in  the  Black  Belt  has  filled  up.  The  tendency  of  share 
tenants  to  increase  at  a  greater  rate  thaTrxash  tenants  has 
therefore*  asserted  itself  again.  Between  1900  and  1910 
cash  tenancy  increased  4U.2  per  cent  and  share  tenancy  43.2. 
As  the  land  becomes  less  plentiful,  and  the  standards  of 
agriculture  require  better  implements,  and  work  animals, 
and  hence  more  capital  to  stock  a  farm,  the  passage  from 
laborer  or  share  tenant  to  cash  tenant  becomes  increasingly 
difficult.  Therefore,  while  the  system  of  tenure  continues 
in  a  state  of  flux,  and  while  laborers  have  the  double 
opportunity  to  become  share  tenants  or  cash  tenants  it  is  to 
be  expected  that  the  majority  will  choose  the  easier  step 
and  enter  share  tenancy.  In  the  case  of  the  white 
man,  the  situation  is  slightly  different.  The  Negro 
passes  from  laborer  to  tenant,  but  there  are  comparatively 
few  white  farm  laborers.  The  white  tenants,  in  numbers 
of  cases  become  tenants  with  little  previous  experience  as 


The  Negro's  Agricultural   Opportunity        65 

laborers  except  that  gained  on  the  parental  farm.  They  are 
probably  more  keenly  alive  to  the  advantages  of  the  per- 
manent forms  of  tenure,  more  of  them  have  available  cap- 
ital, and  when  they  once  become  an  independent  renter 
they  are  less  likely  to  fail  and  be  forced  back  into  the 
share  or  labor  status.  For  these  reasons  the  increase  in 
white  cash  tenants  is  almost  equal  to  the  increase  in  share 
tenants. 

The  United  States  Census  did  not  before  1900  enumerate 
the  number  of  tenants  according  to  color.  For  the  past 
two  census  periods,  however,  the  distribution  has  been  as 
follows : 6 

TABLE  7. 

Georgia:  Farms  Classified  by  Tenure  and  Color  of  Farmer. 


-White- 


-Negro- 


Number  of  Farms 
Operated  by 


co  <u 


a 


to 

T3 

c 

C     r„ 

a 

*    S 

a 

CO     <V 

V 

«-  bo 

h 

c  G 

j3 

^  rt 

to 

OS 

u 

m 


1910    

1900  

Increase    

Per  cent  increase. . 
Per  cent  of  all  Farms 

operated  1910 

^1900    


84,226 

78,548 

5,678 

6.6 

50.0 

55.4 


31,908 

24,022 

7,886 

32.8 

18.9 
16.9 


52,334 

39,295 

13,039 

33.6 

31.1 
27.7 


15,821 

11,583 

4,238 

38.0 

13.0 

14.0 


50,479 

34,728 

15,751 

46.0 

41.1 
42.0 


56,259 

36,515 

19,744 

55.0 

45.9 
44.0 


It  is  therefore  evident  that  all  classes  of  farmers  among 
both  Negroes  and  white  people  are  on  the  increase.  The 
differential  rate  of  increase  is  also  to  be  noted.  The  colored 
share  tenants  show  an  increase  of  55  per  cent,  the  cash 
tenants  of  46  per  cent  and  the  owners  of  38  per  cent.  On 
the  other  hand  the  increase  in  all  white  farmers  was  not  so 


8  Brooks,  Agrarian  Revolution,  opp.  cite  p.  122,  corrected  with 
revised  figures.     Census  1910,  Agriculture.     Vol.  V,  p.  212. 


66 


Negro  Migration 


rapid.  The  white  share  tenants  increased  only  34  per  cent, 
the  cash  tenants  33  per  cent  and  the  owners  6  per  cent. 
The  white  cash  tenants  increased  almost  as  rapidly  as 
share  tenants  because  of  the  tendencies  mentioned  above 
for  the  white  tenants  to  be  more  desirous  of  the  stable  form 
of  tenure,  and  to  have  the  capital  to  set  themselves  up  as 
renters.  Landlords  are  also  more  willing  to  permit  their 
land  to  be  cultivated  by  white  cash  tenants,  without  super- 
vision, than  They  areTto  permit  this  form  of  cultivation  by 
Negro  tenants.  Nothing  short  ot  a  revolutionary  increase 
in  the  efficiency  of~tEe  Negro  as  a  farmer  will  change  this 
unwillingness, of  the  majority  of  resident  landlords  to  aban- 
don  share  farming  although  there  are  disadvantages  both  to 
the  landlord  and  to  the  tenant  in  this  unstable,,  form  of  ten- 
ureTTn^share  tenancy,  many  landlords  prefer  Negro  ten- 


ants since  they  are  more  tractable  and  amenable  to  super- 
vision, and  since,  in  cases  where  the  landlord  combines  mer- 
chandising with  cropping,  greater  profit  is  made  from  Ne- 
groes because  they  spend  their  earnings  more  freely  than  do 
the  white  tenants.7 

The  following  percentages  worked  out  by  Brooks   (p. 

TABLE  8. 

Percentage  of  all  Farms  Operated  by  Owners,  Cash  and  Share 

Tenants. 


—Black  Belt(a)— 

Piedmont 1 

' Wiregrass* 

co 

co 

4-> 

CO 

CO 

to 

CO 

■+-» 

a 

■+-> 

a 

fi 

d 

rt 

co 

a 

d 

CO 

q 

u 

it 
a 

H 

a 
s 

H 
D 

t-t 

co 

1 

CO 

u 

V 

C 

H 

U 

u 

V 

B 

u 

c3 

CO 

u 

a 
a 

V 

H 

d 

CU 

H 

V 

u 

i 

H 

a 

.d 

u 

Ph 

a 

Xi 

H 

to 

a 

XI 

u 

to 

O 

8 

u 

CO 

% 

o 

CO 

it 
U 

in 

3 

i 

O 

CO 

U 

XI 

m 

§ 

1880 

46.1 

21.6  |  32.3 

100 

57.7|    5.6 

36.7 

100 

80.7 

5.8 

13.5 

100 

1890 

36.7 

26.3  |  37.0 

100 

47.3|   7.5 

45.2 

100 

73.3 

11.3 

15.4 

100 

1900 

32.1 

39.5  |  28.4 

100 

!  38.0  j  13.7 

48.3 

100 

61.4 

17.1 

21.5 

100 

1910 

27.2 

40.7(32.1 

100 

1  34.1 1  17.2 

48.7 

100 

45.9 

20.9 

33.2 

100 

(a)  Includes  Coast  Counties,  tabulated  separately  by  Brooks. 
7  Brooks,  R.  P.,  Agrarian  Revolution.    Opp.  cite.,  p.  98. 


The   Negro's  Agricultural  Opportunity        67 

122)  indicate  the  character  of  tenancy  in  the  Black  Belt, 
Upper  Piedmont  and  Wiregrass.  The  mountain  counties 
are  omitted  because  of  their  unimportant  Negro  population. 
The  Black  Belt  naturally  suffered  a  quicker  decline  in 
ownership  and  growth  of  tenancy  because  it  was  in  this  area 
that  the  old  plantation  system  was  prevalent,  The  percen- 
tage of  tenants  in  the  Black  Belt  is  uniformly  higher  than 
in  the  other  two  sections  from  1880  to  1910.  It  is  also 
noticeable  that  between  1890  and  1900  there  was  tremen- 
dous increase  in  the  proportion  of  cash  tenants  all  over  the 
State,  but  specially  in  the  Black  Belt.  During  this  prolonged 
period  of  agricultural  depression  numbers  of  planters  gave 
up  the  struggle  to  maintain  supervision  over  their  tenants 
and  laborers  and  there  was  a  great  opportunity  for  laborers 
and  share  tenants  to  become  independent  renters. 

TABLE  9. 

Farms  Operated  by  Owners,  Cash  and  Share  Tenants. 

(Computed   from  U.   S.  Census,   1900  and   1910.     Agricultural 

Tables  Showing  Tenure  of  Farmers  by  Color  and  Counties.) 


White 

■■-Negro - 

■-, 

C/3 

w 

w 

w 

w 

u 

OT 

In 

c 

V 

■4-» 

ti 

<U 

CO 
U 

4> 

C 

a 
c 

H 

a 

4> 

H 
0 

6 

u 

a 

to 
u 
II 

a 

a 
a 

H 

a 

c 
4? 

s 

u 

<u 

d 

ja 

u 

3 

p 

M 

u 

rt 

> 

£ 

xn 

(4 

a 
43 

44 

0 

£ 

(O 

3 

O 

0 

u 

in 

H 

0 

U 

Ui 

H 

Black  Belt— 
1900....  I  27,476  I  15,029 
1910....  I  28,697  I  16,513 
Upper  Piedmont — 
1900....  I  20,593  I    5,466 

1910 I  23,021 1    8,005 

Wiregrass — 

1900 I  17,335  I    3,204| 

1910....  I  20,802  I    6,379  I 


8,663  I  51,168  I  7,516 
10,087  I  55,297  |  9,809 

19,001 1  45,060  1 1,371 
24,219  I  55,245  |  2,053 

4,296  I  24,835  |  2,390 
9,314  I  36,495  |  3,578 


29,910  I  24,204  I  61,630 
41,044  I  35,524 1  86,377 

2,475|   8,935112,781 
4,607  I  11,635  1 18,295 

2,323  1    2,609 1    7,322 
4,757  J   8,308|16,643 


Between  1900  and  1910  white  cash  tenants  increased 
about  15  per  cent  and  white  share  tenants  about  16  per  cent. 
Up  to  1900,  it  will  be  observed  from  table  9  that  there 


68  Negro  Migration 

were  very  few  white  tenants  in  this  area.  The  filling  up  of 
farms  with  cash  tenants,  and  the  increase  in  white  competi- 
tion, therefore,  has  recently  limited  the  opportunity  for  the 
Negro  to  enter  cash  tenancy  in  the  Black  Belt.  When  the 
population  movement  in  this  section  is  examined  it  will 
appear  that  this  condition  is  very  significant. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Upper  Piedmont  and  Wiregrass 
regions  show  remarkably  active  increases  in  Negro  tenantry. 
Between  1890  and  1910  these  areas  show  a  marked  increase 
in  farms.  New  small  farms  were  being  taken  up  in  the 
Upper  Piedmont,  and  some  of  the  large  tracts  in  the  Wire- 
grass,  which  had  been  cleared  of  timber,  were  opened  for 
farming  and  subdivided  into  tenant  farms. 

In  these  two  areas  all  classes  of  farms  have  been  rapidly 
increasing.  New  white  and  colored  farmers  are  entering 
these  regions,  and  the  colored  man  moving  in  finds  oppor- 
tunity as  share  tenant,  cash  tenant,  or,  if  he  has  capital,  as 
owner. 

A  summary  of  the  farm  opportunity  for  the  Negro  indi- 
cates that  he  has  had  the  personal  friendship  of  many  white 
people,  but  the  influence  of  this  relation  is  lessening  as 
slavery  recedes  into  the  past;  that,  in  Georgia,  some  15,000 
Negroes  have  taken  advantage  of  the  opportunity  to  become 
land-owning  farmers,  aasGffloc  in7nf)Q_gfjg">  opportunity 
to  become  tenants.  That  is  to  say,  that  one  in  each  twenty- 
five  Negro  males  in  the  country  was  a  landholder  and  one 
in  each  four  was  a  tenant.  Furthermore,  that  since  the 
plantations  of  the  Black  Belt  have  broken  down  in  large 
numbers,  the  opportunity  in  that  section  is  no  longer  as 
ample  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  Negroes  living  there 
as  it  is  in  the  newer  Wiregrass  section,  or  in  the  Upper 
Piedmont. 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE  LIFE  OF  THE  TENANT  CLASSES. 

The  foregoing  description  of  the  extent  and  rapidity  of 
the  breakdown  of  the  gang  labor  plantation  gives  an  in- 
sight into  the  rise  of  share  tenancy,  renting,  and  ownership 
among  the  Negroes.  It  does  not,  however,  indicate  the  full 
extent  of  the  revolution  in  southern  rural  life  which  this 
movement  implies.  This  can  be  realized  best  by  contrasting 
the  condition  of  the  freedmen  in  1860  with  that  of  the 
Negro  to-day.  In  Georgia,  the  half  million  Negroes  who 
emerged  from  slavery  were  a  homogeneous  group.  There 
were  comparatively  few  who  held  personal  property  and 
none  who  owned  land.  To-day,  on  the  other  hand,  the  800,- 
000  rural  Negroes  are  stratified.  Laborers  differ  from  ten- 
ants and  tenants  from  owners.  Tenant  classes  also  differ 
from  one  another  in  such  respects  as  method  of  renting  the 
land,  utilizing  the  land,  value  of  land  cultivated,  work-stock 
and  implements  used,  yield  obtained,  housing  and  income. 
In  addition  to  these  economic  differences  the  social  relation- 
ships such  as  home  life,  standard  of  living,  general  standing 
in  the  community,  and  contacts  with  the  white  people  vary 
greatly.  These  fundamental  differences  cause  the  rural  or- 
ganization of  communities  to  vary  with  the  relative  numbers 
of  the  different  kinds  of  tenants  which  compose  it.  These 
detailed  effects  of  land  tenure  on  rural  organization  may  be 
realized  best  from  a  full  description  of  the  differences  be- 
tween the  tenant  classes. 

Hitherto,  only  the  general  characteristics  of  the  different 
tenant  classes  have  been  mentioned.  In  order  to  give  these 
terms  definiteness  and  precision  the  following  definitions  are 
quoted :  * 

*"A  Study  of  The  Tenant  Systems  in  the  Yazoo-Mississippi 
Delta,"  Goldenweiser  and  Boeger,  Bulletin  337,  U.  S.  Dept.  of 
Agriculture. 


70  Negro  Migration 

Half  and  Half  System,  {Share  Croppers). — Under  this 
system  which  is  true  share  tenancy  or  metayage,  the  tenant 
supplies  the  labor  and  one-half  the  fertilizers,  when  any 
are  used,  while  the  landlord  furnishes  the  land,  a  cabin,  a 
garden  plot,  all  the  tools,  the  work  animals  and  their  feed, 
the  seed,  one-half  of  the  fertilizers  used,  and  the  tenant's 
fuel  wood,  which  the  tenant  cuts  from  the  nearest  available 
woodland,  using  the  landlord's  mules  for  hauling.  Each 
party,  under  this  system  receives  half  the  crop,  and  each 
pays  for  half  the  ginning,  bagging,  and  ties.  If,  as  happens 
occassionally,  another  crop  besides  corn  and  cotton  is  grown, 
it  is  also  divided  equally  between  landlord  and  tenant.  Cow- 
peas  are  frequently  planted  in  the  corn  at  the  last  cultiva- 
tion with  the  seed  usually  furnished  by  the  landlord.  The 
tenant  is  often  allowed  to  pasture  it  if  he  has  a  cow  or 
other  stock.  The  landlords  exercise  car^fuL_sup.ervision 
over  the  share  xrnppprs  whr>  are  locally  not  considered  as 
tenants  at  all,  but  as  labojersjiired  to  do  the  work  in  return 
for  halt  the  crop  and  the jise_of_a^cabin. 

Sometimes,  under  this  system,  the  tenant  pays  cash  for 
the  use  of  the  land  not  planted  in  cotton  and  for  the  use 
of  the  planter's  equipment  in  working  it.  In  such  cases  the 
tenant  receives  all  the  crops  raised  in  this  manner.2 

Share  Renting  System  (Third  and  fourth  share  tenants). 
— Under  this  system  the  tenant  furnishes  his  own  work 
stock  and  feeds  it,  and  also  supplies  tools,  seeds,  and  all 
labor,  while  the  owner  provides  the  land,  the  buildings  and 
the  fuel.  If  fertilizers  are  used  under  this  system,  they 
are  paid  for  in  the  ratio  of  each  party's  share  of  the  crop. 
The  tenant  pays  as  rent  a  share  of  the  crop,  one-fourth  in 
some  sections  and  one-third  in  others.    The  use  of  the  land 

2  This  latter  arrangement  is  extremely  rare  in  Georgia,  as  is 
evidenced  by  the  fact  that  the  census  of  1910  reported  only  1,795 
Negroes  in  the  "Share-Cash"  tenant  class,  i.  e.,  just  a  trifle  over 
one  per  cent  of  all  Negro  farmers. 


The  Life  of  the  Tenant  Classes  71 

in  corn  is  sometimes  paid  for  in  cash  and  the  tenant  then 
retains  all  the  crop.  Each  party  to  this  agreeemnt  pays  for 
ginning  and  bagging  his  part  of  the  cotton.  The  landlord 
is  interested  in  the  crop  and  oversees  the  tenant's  opera- 
tions, but  is  not  so  much  concerned  about  the  economical 
use  of  mules  and  machinery,  since  they  belong  to  the  tenant. 

Cash  Renting  System. — This  system  is  similar  to  the  share 
renting  systemr  except  thatvin  lieu  of  a  share  of  the  crop 
the,  tenant  pays  a  fixed  rent  per  acre  in  cash  or  lint  cotton. 
Since  the  cotton  is  sold  through  the  planter,  he  is  sure  of 
his  rent,  provided  a  crop  is  raised,  but  since  he  cannot  col- 
lect the,  rent  if  there  is  no  crop,  and  since^also  tiheTenant 
isjjsually  indebted  to  him  for  supplies  advanced,  the  land- 
lord exercises  supervision  over  the  cash  renters,  except  in 
the  case  of  renters  whom  he  knows  to  be  dependable.3 

•This  statement  of  supervision  applies  only  to  cash  renters 
on  plantations  of  resident  landlords-.  In  the  case  of  absentee 
landlords,  so  prevalent,  there  is  no  supervision  oTer  the  renters. 

The  following  table  summarizes  in  convenient  form  the 
principal  terms  of  the  three  systems  of  tenure : 


72 


Negro  Migration 


TABLE  10. 

Method  of    Renting 

Share  Cropping 

Share  Renting 
Landlord  Furnishes 

Cash  Renting 

Land 

Land 

Land 

House 

House 

House 

Fuel 

Fuel 

Fuel 

Tools 

One-fourth    or    one- 

Work  stock 

third  of  fertilizers 

Feed  for  stock 

Seed 

One-half  of 

fertilizers 

Tenant  Furnishes 

Labor 

Labor 

Labor 

One-half  of 

Work  stock 

Work  stock 

fertilizers 

Feed  for  stock 

Feed  for  stock 

Tools 

Tools 

Seeds 

Seeds 

Three-fourths  or 

Fertilizers 

two-thirds  of 

fertilizers 

Landlord  Receives 

One-half  of 

One-fourth    or    one- 

Fixed  amount  in 

crop 

third  of  crop 
Tenant  Receives 

cash  or  cotton 

One-half  of 

Three-fourths  or 

Entire   crop  less 

crop 

two-thirds  of  crop 

fixed  amount 

Planters  and  tenants  express  a  wide  divergence  of  opinion 
as  to  which  of  these  systems  is  "best  for"  them  and  the 
community.  The  writers  on  the  economics  of  land  tenure 
also  differ  as  to  which  is  most  desirable  from  an  economic 
standpoint.  Henry  George4  tells  us  that  "tenant  farming 
is  the  intermediary  stage  through  which  the  independent 
tillers  of  the  soil  have  in  other  countries  passed  and  in  this 
country  are  beginning  to  pass  to  the  condition  of  agricultural 
laborers  and  chronic  paupers."  E.  R.  A.  Seligman  5  holds 
on  the  other  hand,  that  "the  increase  in  tenants  has  come 
not  from  previous  farm  owners,  but  from  previous  farm 

*  North  American  Review,  Vol.  142,  p.  393. 

8  Seligman,  E.  R.  A.,  Principles  of  Economics  (1914,  Ed.),  p. 
388. 


The  Life  of  the  Tenant  Classes  73 

hands  or  hired  men.  The  growth  of  farm  tenancy  is,  there- 
fore, a  step  forward,  not  a  step  backward  in  the  condition 
of  American  agriculture."  Taylor,  Carver  and  other  writers 
on  rural  economics  hold  substantially  with  the  latter  view. 
Certainly  in  the  case  of  Negro  tenancy,  it  is  apparent  that  in 
1860  there  were  no  Negro  owners  to  pass  through  tenancy 
to  labor.  On  the  other  hand  there  were  many  ex-slaves, 
who  in  the  past  fifty  years  have  passed  through  the  status 
of  tenant  to  that  of  owner,  and  many  Negroes,  now  in  the 
cash  and  third  and  fourth  tenant  classes  represent  laborers 
who  have  accumulated  some  capital,  and  who  with  slightly 
more  effort  can  become  owners. 

There  are  still  other  writers  and  a  considerable  body 
of  public  opinion  in  the  South  with  the  view  that,  while 
tenancy  is  normally  to  be  considered  as  a  rung  in  the  agri- 
cultural ladder  wnereby  young,  inexperienced  men  climb 
from  labor  to  ownership,  still,  m  the  case  of  the  Negro, 
race  characteristics  nullify  this  principle.  Brooks6  states 
"Cash  tenancy  usually  represents  an  economic  advance  over 
share  tenancy.  *  *  *  The  above  considerations  do  not  ap- 
ply in  case  of  the  Negro  elements  of  tenants  in  Georgia." 
Banks  7  on  the  basis  of  the  examination  of  only  two  farm- 
er's budgets,  concludes  that  share  tenants  would  probably 
be  better  off  as  laborers,  and  that  the  plantation  wages 
system  offers  such  inducements  as  will  "counteract  the 
tendency  of  Negroes  to  leave  the  farms." 

In  the  midst  of  this  tangle  of  general  statements  the  first 
question  we  naturally  ask  is:  "How  much  does  each  class 
earn?" 

INCOMES,  1913. 

The  United  States  Bureau  of  Farm  Management  is  con- 
ducting a  series  of  detailed  local  studies  of  farming,  all  of 
which  embrace  this  topic.     The  most  illuminating,  which 

6  Brooks,  Agrarian  Revolution,  p.  59. 

7  Banks,  Economics  of  Land  Tenure  in  Georgia,  pp.  112-115. 


74  Negro  Migration 

has  been  published  to  date,  is  the  Study  of  Farming  in  the 
Yazoo-Mississippi  Delta,  previously  referred  to.  In  this 
study  it  appeared: 

(a)  That  the  income  of  the  half  share  tenant  is  lower 
but  steadier  and  less  liable  to  ruinous  fluctuations  than  that 
of  any  of  the  other 'classes  of  farming  population  except 
that'nf  iahnrers^  In  this  resj>ect  they  are  much  like  laborers. 
The  number  of  failures  among  share  tenants  is  very  low. 
The  average~Tncome  is  $633  (^1913).  Only  2.9  per  cent 
earned  less  than  $100  and  only  5.1  per  cent  earned  over 
$600. 

(b)  That  the  income  of  the  third  and  fourth  renters 
averaged  $398,  but  8  per  cent  of  this  class  failed  to  make 
as  much  as  $100,  and  19.2  per  cent  made  over  $600. 

(c)  That  the  income  of  cash  renters  is  still  higher  and 
still  more  liable  to  fluctuations.  This  class  averaged  $478 
in  income,  but  9.8  per  cent  failed  to  make  $100,  while  28.2 
per  cent  made  more  than  $600. 

As  the  authors  point  out,  "This  difference  is  probably 
influenced  but  not  entirely  accounted  for  by  the  size  of 
holdings." 

From  the  point  of  view  of  the  landlord  the  factor  of  in- 
come* is  reversed.  His  iricome  from  share  tenant  farms 
yielded,  "on  an  average,  13.6  per  cent  on  his  investment. 
Where  the  share  tenant's  income  is  less  than  $100,  however, 
the  landlord's  return  was  only  about  3  per  cent  on  his  invest- 
ment, but  from  share  tenants  with  an  income  of  over  $1,000, 
the  landlord's  yield  was  over  25  per  cent. 

In  the  case  of  third  and  fourth  men  the  landlord's  average 
return  was  11.8  per  cent,  but  in  no  case  did  it  fall  below 
7.1  per  cent  or  rise  above  18.8  per  cent. 

In  the  case  of  cash  renters,  the  landlord's  return  is  prac- 
tically  fixed  af6""br  V  per  cent.  The  average  is  6.6  per 
cent,  the  low  range  5.7  per  cent,  and  the  upper  range  8  per 
cent. 


The  Life  of  the  Tenant  Classes  75 

Balanced  against  these  differences  in  income  are  the  facts 
that  in  the  case  of  third  and  fourth  tenants  and  renters  the 
landlord  not  only  furnishes  less  capital,  but  assumes  a 
smaller  risk  than  in  the  case  of  the  share  tenant. 

Nevertheless,  it  is  comparatively  easy  to  understand,  from 
this  point  of  view,  why,  in  practically  all  cases  where  land- 
lords can  give  personal  supervision  to  their  planting  opera- 
tions,^th~ey  desire  to~  luiiliiiue  lire  share  cropping  system  as 
long  as  possible.  On  the  other  hand  it  is  equally  as^easy 
to  "understand  the  natural  desire  of  the  ambitious  tenants 
who  have  saved  a  little  money,  to  "get  up  in  the  world" 
hy  chancing  the  greater  gains  of  third  and  touruTcropping 
and  renting,  even  at  the  risk  of  a  greater  loss.  3 

It  is  evident  that  several  factors  other  than  the  propor- 
tion in  which  the  shares  are  divided,  determine  this  fluctu- 
ation of  income.  Figures  indicating  the  relative  efficiency 
in  production  and  extent  of  the  usage  of  land,  animals  and 
implements  by  the  various  Negro  tenant  classes  were  pub- 
lished for  the  first  time  from  the  census  of  1910 8  by 
counties. 

Unfortunately  the  half  share  and  the  third  and  fourth 
share  tenants  are  all  classed  as  "Share"  tenants  by  the 
census,  and  as  the  following  discussion  of  the  factors  of 
production  is  based  on  the  census,  the  term  "share  tenant," 
as  used,  in  the  remainder  of  the  chapter  includes  both  these 
classes.  Brooks  found,  from  examination  of  the  plantation 
schedules  of  the  Census  of  1911,  that  this  third  and  fourth 
share  system  is  largely  confined  to  the  Upper  Piedmont 
section.  A  considerable  number  of  these  tenants  were  scat- 
tered throughout  the  State,  however,  in  1910.  Hill®fo_und  / 
throughout  the- State,  howegef,  in  1910. — ffiHl^Jrouid^^- 
that  37.8  per  cent  of  the  Negroes  of  Clarke  County,  which 

«  Negro  Population,  1790-1915,  U.  S.  Census,  1918,  Table  73. 
9  Hill,  W.  B.,  The  Negroes  of  Clarke  County,  Georgia,  Bulle- 
tin University  of  Georgia,  1914.    Vol.  15,  No.  3,  p.  19. 


76  Negro  Migration 

is  on  the  border  of  the  Black  Belt,  were  share  tenants  farm- 
ing on  "other  than  half  share"  basis.10 

EFFICIENCY  IN  YIELD  OBTAINED. 

As  an  index  of  efficiency  the  yield  per  acre  is  very  re- 
liable. The  share  tenant  obtains  a  slightly  higher  yield, 
both  in  cotton  and  in  corn,  than  does  the  owner.  The  cash 
tenant  is  inferior  to  both.  The  following  table  (11)  indi- 
cates that  in  1909,  for  the  State  as  a  whole,  the  yield  of 
cotton  in  bales  per  acre  was,  for  share  tenants,  .39,  for 
owners,  .38,  and  for  cash  tenants,  .36.  The  yield  of  corn 
in  bushels  per  acre  was,  for  share  tenants,  10.8,  for  owners, 
10.5,  and  for  cash  tenants,  9.4. 

The  difference  between  share  tenants  and  owners  in  yield 
obtained  is  certainly  not  sufficient  to  warrant  any  sweeping 
statement  as  to  difference  in  their  efficiency.  When  the 
individual  counties  are  examined  it  will  be  noted  that  in 
many  sections  the  yield  obtained  by  Negro  owners  was 
larger  than  that  obtained  by  share  tenants.  In  fact,  the 
yield  of  cotton  per  acre  for  share  tenants  exceeded  that 
for  owners  only  in  the  older  farming  counties  where  the 
plantation  system  is  still  strongest.  For  example,  there  is  a 
notable  difference  in  the  group  of  counties  embracing  the  old 
Black  Belt  areas  of  Sumpter,  Baldwin  and  Crawford  and 
the  edges  of  the  Black  Belt,  Paulding  and  Dodge,  on  the  one 
hand,  and  the  group  formed  by  the  Piedmont,  Wiregrass 
and  newer  Black  Belt  counties  on  the  other  hand.  The 
yield  obtained  by  cash  tenants  is,  however,  uniformly  lower 
than  that  obtained  by  the  other  classes. 

10  The  inclusion  of  third  and  fourth  as  well  as  half  share  ten- 
ants in  the  same  class  would  tend  to  minimize  such  differences 
as  tend  to  exist  between  cash  and  share  tenants  so  grouped. 
Notwithstanding  this  fact,  the  tables  which  follow  indicate  some 
differences  which  are  sufficiently  marked  to  serve  as  a  basis  of 
definite  contrast  between  these  classes. 


The  Life  of  the  Tenant  Classes  77 

SIZE  OF  FARMS. 

There  is  little  indication  that  the  size  of  farm  has  much 
influence,  except  in  special  cases,  in  securing  the  larger 
income  of  the  owners  and  renters.  The  large  majority  of 
Negro  owners  and  renters,  as  well  as  of  share  tenants  still 
cultivate  the  farm  of  "one  man,"  one  or  two  horse  size. 
This  is  indicated  by  the  average  acreage  tilled  by  each  class. 
For  the  State  as  a  whole  share  tenant's  farms  average  34.6 
improved  acres,  cash  tenants,  43.4  acres,  and  owners,  41.3 
acres.  Owing  to  the  plantation  organization,  the  share  ten- 
ant is  assigned  land  which  is  practically  all  in  crops,  the 
pasture  and  woodland  being  in  common.  Improved  acreage 
of  cash  tenants  and  owners  includes  therefore  much  more 
land  not  actually  in  crops.  Nevertheless,  some  of  the  larger 
income  of  cash  tenants  and  owners  is  due  to  the  fact  that 
they  can  cultivate  more  ground.  The  share  tenant  is  vir- 
tually bound  to  the  one  man  farm.  But  the  owner  or  renter 
who  has  a  large  family  and  can  save  enough  for  additional 
animal  power  and  implements,  can  extend  his  operations 
by  merely  renting  or  buying  a  slightly  larger  piece  of 
ground.  In  some  cases  Negro  owners  and  renters  cultivate 
so  extensively  as  to  require  several  laborers  working  for 
them. 

Inasmuch  as  neither  the  efficiency  in  production  per  acre, 
nor  difference  in  size  of  jarm  cultivated  indicates  very  sig- 
nificant  differences  between  the  tenanEclasses  we  may  turn 
to  the  other  side  of  the  picture,  namely  the  itfrng_nf  cost. 
The  questions  of  profit  and  efficiency  involve  not  only  the 
yield  obtained,  but  the  costs  incurred  in  obtaining  it. 

VALUE  OF  LAND. 

It  is  surprising  to  note  that  the  most  valuable  land  in  the 
Cotton  Belt  is  in  the  hands  of  share  tenants.  The  plantation 
inquiry  of  the  Census  of  1910  n  finds  that  the  cheapest  land 

11  Plantation  Farming  in  the  United  States,  U.  S.  Bureau  of 
the  Census  Bulletin,  1916. 


78 


Negro  Migration 


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The  Life  of  the  Tenant  Classes  79 

is  in  the  hands  of  Negro  owners  and  that  again  the  cash 
tenants  occupy  an  intermediate  position. 

Table  11  (opposite  page)  indicates  that  for  the  State 
as  a  whole  the  per  acre  values  of  land  occupied  by  Negro 
farmers  are:  share  tenant  farms,  $17.77;  cash  tenant  farms, 
$14.04;  owner  farms,  $11.29.  One  may  see  by  the  uni- 
formity with  which  this  relationship  holds  in  the  individual 
counties  that  this  difference  is  not  due  to  any  concentration 
on  particularly  valuable  lands  in  any  one  section  of  the 
State. 

The  interesting  exception  to  note  is  Liberty  County. 
This  county  was  mentioned  in  the  previous  chapter  as  the 
county  containing  the  largest  number  of  Negro  land  owners. 
It  was  pointed  out  that  just  after  the  Civil  War,  in  the  rice 
plantation  counties  immediately  east  of  Liberty,  there  was 
complete  disorganization.  In  Liberty  and  its  adjoining  coun- 
ties there  were  immense  tracts  of  wild  land.  As  a  result 
the  large  slave  population  had  the  opportunity  to  buy  very 
cheaply,  and  in  some  instances  secured  what  is  now  the 
most  valuable  land.  This  is  just  the  reverse  of  what  has 
been  true  in  the  rest  of  the  State,  especially  in  the  old  Black 
Belt.  In  the  counties  where  Negroes  bought  land  already 
in  farms  rather  than  wild  land,  they  could  buy  the  cheaper 
land  only.  The  same  principle  held  good  to  a  lesser  degree 
with  renting.  The  more  productive  lands  have  been  held 
by  landlords  for  cultivation  with  labor  or  share  tenants. 

The  cultivation  of  these  more  valuable  lands  is,  in  itself 
a  great  advantage  to  the  share  tenant  in  getting  results,  and, 
to  some  extent  accounts  for  the  fact  that  he  obtains  a  larger 
yield  per  acre. 

IMPLEMENTS  AND  MACHINERY. 

The  foregoing  Table  (11)  indicates  that  the  reverse  is 
true  of  the  value  of  implements  and  machinery  used  per 
farm.  The  census  figures  show  a  larger  per  farm  value  of 
implements  for  owners  than  for  cash  tenants  and  for  cash 


80  Negro  Migration 

tenants  than  for  share  tenants.  The  average  values  for  the 
State  as  a  whole  are,  owner  farms,  $66.  Cash  tenant  farms, 
$44.  Share  tenant  farms,  $23.  These  figures  are,  to  some 
extent,  deceptive,  in  that  the  implements  enumerated  as  "on 
the  share  tenant's  farm"  do  not  include  all  the  implements 
which  he  may  use  during  the  year.  In  other  words,  the 
plantation,  on  which  the  share  tenant  farm  is  located,  is  a 
unit.  These  units  differ  in  degree  of  organization,  but  the 
most  efficient  plantations  are  highly  organized.  On  these 
plantations  the  expensive  implements  such  as  two  horse  cul- 
tivators and  disc  harrows  are  not  furnished  for  each  tenant, 
but  are  held  by  the  landlord  and  apportioned  out  to  the 
tenants  as  needed.  Cash  tenants  on  large  plantations  some- 
times have  the  same  advantage  of  borrowing  or  renting 
the  landlord's  specialized  equipment  for  short  periods,  but 
cash  tenants  on  absentee  landlord's  places,  or  colored  own- 
ers on  their  own  farms  must,  of  necessity,  purchase  prac- 
tically all  the  implements  and  machinery  they  use.  This 
renders  a  group  of  share  tenant  farms  on  an  organized 
plantation  distinctly  more  efficient  in  the  use  of  implements 
and  machinery. 

WORK  ANIMALS. 

Figures  showing  the  number  of  work  animals  per  farm 
indicate  that  the  same  factors  determine  the  possession  and 
use  of  work  animals  that  determine  the  possession  and  use 
of  implements.  The  average  for  work  horses  and  mules  per 
Negro  farm  for  the  State  as  a  whole  was :  for  share  tenant 
farms,  .8,  for  cash  tenant  farms,  1.3,  and  for  owner  farms, 
1.4.12 

Owners  and  cash  tenants  have  more  animals  per  farm 
because  their  independent  position  renders  the  possession  of 
at  least  one  animal  almost  necessary.  On  plantations,  how- 
ever, the  landlord  can  control  the  use  of  animals  from  a 
central  barn,  apportioning  them  out  to  the  labor  and  share 
tenant  crops  as  they  are  needed. 
12  Negro  Population  in  the  U.  S.   Opp.  cite.,  Table  73. 


The  Life  of  the  Tenant  Classes  8i 

The  share  tenant,  however,  in  using  the  white  man's  mule 
or  horse,  secures  the  labor  of  a  more  valuable  animal.  The 
Yazoo-Mississippi  study  indicated  that  the  average  value  of 
mules  used  was:  on  share  tenant  farms,  $187;  on  share 
renters  (third  and  fourth)  farms,  $147;  on  cash  renters 
farms,  $150.  Owners  were  not  studied  in  this  area.  In 
Georgia,  the  census  13  figures  show  that  the  average  value 
of  the  horse  or  mule  used  by  owners  was  $128,  by  cash 
tenants,  $137,  and  by  share  tenants  was  $157. 

Because  he  uses  fewer  animals  per  farm  and  more  valu- 
able animals  the  share  tenant  cultivates  more  per  mule.  Re- 
duced to  a  ratio  the  census  figures  indicate  that  on  the  farms 
of  Negro  farmers  in  the  State  as  a  whole  the  acreage  in 
cotton  and  corn  per  work  animal  was:  for  owners,  19.5, 
for  cash  tenants,  27.7,  and  for  share  tenants,  32.3. 

Co-operation  among  independent  owners  and  cash  tenants 
along  the  lines  of  the  agricultural  communities  of  Europe 
would  give  them  the  same  advantages  in  conserving  imple- 
ments and  animal  power  that  the  share  tenant  has.  The 
"latifondia,"  or  collective  leases  of  Sicily  and  some  "co- 
operatives" of  France  are  nothing  more  than  groups  of 
independent  farmers  which  substitute  a  co-operative  associ- 
ation for  a  landlord.  The  association  performs  the  func- 
tions performed  by  the  landlord  of  a  plantation.  It  super- 
vises the  purchase  and  co-operative  use  of  fertilizers,  seeds, 
animals  and  machinery. 

Both  white  and  colored  independent  farmers  in  the  South 
have  a  long  distance  to  go  before  such  co-operation  can 
be  brought  about.  There  is  no  more  intense  individualist 
than  the  small  farmer,  and  much  of  this  individualism  is  re- 
flected in  the  independent  Negro  owners  and  renters.  In- 
dividual opinions  as  to  time  of  planting,  quality  of  seed,  ex- 
tent of  fertilization  and  use  of  work  animals  are  still  too 
divergent  to  allow  an  association  to  run  smoothly.    The  fact 

13  Negro  Population  in  the  U.  S.  opp.  cite,  Tables  69  and  73. 


82  Negro  Migration 

that  it  can  succeed  is,  however,  indicated  by  the  success 
of  plantations.  These,  in  many  respects  are  co-operative 
units.  This  is  especially  evident  in  the  co-operative  use  of 
the  farm  animals  and  implements  on  the  plantation. 

One  consideration  which  will  militate  greatly  against  the 
co-operative  purchase  and  use  of  animals  is  that  the  farmer, 
being  isolated,  wishes  to  use  the  work  animal  at  odd  times 
for  riding  or  driving.  In  fact  this  control  of  the  work 
animals  from  a  central  barn  and  the  denial  of  their  use  for 
riding  or  driving  to  laborers  or  share  tenants  is  one  of  the 
most  irksome  features  of  the  plantation  system  to  the  Negro. 

On  the  basis  of  income,  yield  obtained,  and  expense  of 
land  implements  and  animals  used  the  case  may  be  stated 
as  follows :  The  share  tenant,  using  the  more  valuable  land 
and  animals,  and  with  the  facility  of  making  more  efficient 
use  of  land  animals  and  implements  by  reason  of  organiza- 
tion and  supervision  by  the  landlord,  gets  slightly  better 
results  per  acre  than  the  other  classes,  but  his  results  per 
acre  are  not  greatly  different  from  those  obtained  by  the 
owner  class.  The  interest  of  the  owner  in  the  land  he  has 
paid  for,  ana1  in  the  crop  of  which  he  reaps  the  full  benefit, 
practically  offsets  the  superiority  of  the  land  and  super- 
vision of  the  share  tenant.  The  cash  tenant,  occupying  an 
intermediate  position  between  the  owner  and  share  tenant 
with  respect  to  value  of  land,  implements  and  animals  used, 
nevertheless  falls  below  both  the  other  classes  in  yield  per 
acre.  The  incomes  of  share  tenants  are,  therefore,  less  than 
those  of  owners  and  renters  not  so  much  through  individual 
inefficiency  in  production,  as  through  the  differences  in 
division  of  the  product. 

DEPRECIATION  AND  WASTE. 

Purely  from  the  standpoint  of  the  landlord,  wear  and  tear 
on  the  land  is  the  most  frequent  objection  to  Negroes  escap- 
ing from  the  supervision  of  the  share  tenant  system.  One 
of  the  most  effective  safeguards  against  this  depreciation  of 


The  Life  of  the  Tenant  Classes  83 

la^H  is  the  diversification  of  crops.  Table  11,  however,  in- 
dicates that  the  farms  of  share  tenants  are  the  least  diver- 
sified. There  are  almost  2  acres  in  cotton  for  each  acre  in 
corn  on  the  farms  of  share  tenants,  slightly  less  on  the  farms 
of  cash  tenants,  and  only  1.3  acres  in  cotton  for  each  acre 
in  corn  on  the  farms  of  owners. 

This  is  due  to  the  fact  that  where  the  cropping  and  labor 
systems  exist  on  the  same  plantation,  the  landlord  prefers 
to  raise  the  feed  crops  with  wage  labor,  confining  the  share 
men  to  cotton  as  far  as  possible.  This  facilitates  the  par- 
tition of  the  two  shares,  and  enables  the  landlord,  who  has 
to  furnish  feed,  to  raise  it  himself,  rather  than  necessitating 
its  purchase  from  the  share  tenant.  The  owner  cannot  be 
accused  of  allowing  his  land  to  depreciate  faster  than  the 
share  tenant  through  lack  of  diversification.  Nor  is  the 
renter  class  open  to  this  accusation  to  the  extent  believed 
by  the  general  public  in  the  South.  The  exhaustive  one 
crop  system  of  cotton  culture  has  a  much  firmer  hold  on 
the  share  tenants. 

With  regard  to  the  items  of  maintenance  for  which  less 
reliable  figures  are  obtainable,  such  as  fertilizers  used,  in- 
tensive  cultivation,  maintenance  of  terraces  and  drains,  it 
is  probable  that  the  share  tenant  class,  with  the  more  intel- 
ligent supervision  of  the  landlord  is  slightly  more  efficient. 
That  is,  he  is  always  directed  in  these  matters  bv  a  supervis- 
ing resident  landlord.  He  is  therefore  compelled  to  adopt 
measures  for  maintaining  the  fertility  of  the  land  to  a 
greater  extent  than  either  of  the  other  two  classes^  In  the 
case  of  resident  landlords,  however,  cash  tenants  can  also  be 
required  by  written  contract  and  by  supervision  to  do  as 
much  in  this  respect  as  share  tenants.  In  fact  Brooks  noted 
that  in  the  Upper  Piedmont,  where  absentee  landlords  are 
at  a  minimum,  renting  is  not  regarded  as  a  great  evil,  on  ac- 
count of  the  fact  that  written  contracts  covering  the  main- 
tenance of  the  fertility  of  the  soil  are  entered  into  and  en- 
forced by  nearby  landlords.    Also  because  Negroes,  who  are 


84  Negro  Migration 

more  scattered  among  a  majority  white  population,  have 
more  chance  to  observe  progressive  farming  methods  than 
they  do  in  solid  Negro  Black  Belt  communities.  As  to  own- 
ers, their  individual  interest  in  the  land  in  which  they  have 
invested,  plus  such  supervision  as  they  can  be  given  by 
county  farm  demonstration  agents  must  be  relied  on  to 
prompt  them  to  take  the  necessary  precautions  against  de- 
preciation. 

As  a  class,  however,  owners  must  be  almost  equally  as  ef- 
ficient in  this  respect  as  are  share  tenants,  otherwise,  start- 
ing with  inferior  land,  the  owners  could  hardly  continue  to 
so  nearly  equal  the  production  per  acre  attained  by  share 

tenants.     That  rash   tenants  as  a  Hass  are  inferior  in  this 

respect  is  indicated  by  the  fact  that  their  yield  per  acre  is 
not  only  less  than  that  of  share  tenahls'^wKo  occupy  more 
valuable  land,  but  ajso  less  than  that  of  owners  who  occupy 
less  valuable  land. 

This  very  general  survey  of  the  factors  of  production  and 
yield  obtained,  indicates  the  futility,  purely  from  an  eco- 
nomic standpoint  of  attempting  a  sweeping  general  state- 
ment as  to  which  system  is  "better  for  the  tenant"  or  "better 
for  the  landlord."  Too  much  depends  upon  the  individual 
tenant  or  landlord.  The  foregoing  facts  do,  however,  make 
it  possible  from  the  standpoint  of  the  yield  obtained  and  the 
factors  of  production  used  to  give  the  following  categorical 
statements : 

(1)  If  the  tenant  is  young  and  without  either  capital,  or 
sufficient  experience  to  invest  borrowed  money  wisely  in 
animals  and  implements  which  will  be  efficiently  used,  there 
is  but  one  place  for  him  on  the  farm,  outside  the  status  of 
laborer,  and  that  is  share  tenancy. 

(2)  If  the  tenant  has  slightly  more  experience  and  has 
sufficient  capital  to  buy  animals,  implements  and  machinery, 
he  is  better  off  as  a  cash  tenant.  From  the  landlord's  point 
of  view  the  existence  of  this  class  is  not  so  desirable.  Un- 
scrupulous landlords  who  enforce  the  share  system  rigor- 


The  Life  of  the  Tenant  Classes  85 

ously,  giving  their  tenants  in  return  the  minimum  of  con- 
cessions are  enabled,  as  we  noted  at  the  beginning  to  make 
as  high  as  25  per  cent  on  their  investment.  This,  of  course, 
can  be  called  nothing  short  of  exploitation  through  a  sys- 
tem. The  landlord  cannot  attain  such  a  high  return  on  his 
investment  from  the  cash  tenant.  He  is  also  in  danger,  if 
his  contract  is  not  written  or  if  the  tenant  is  lazy  or  dis- 
honest, of  seeing  his  land  deteriorate. 

(3)  If  the  Negro  has  a  family  of  any  size,  has  farming 
experience  and  capital,  the  logical  status  for  him  is  land 
ownership.  As  an  owner  nothing  stands  between  him  and 
the  realization  of  rent  for  his  land,  interest  for  his  capital 
invested,  wages  for  his  labor  and  that  of  his  family,  and,  if 
he  proves  to  be  a  successful  farmer,  profits  on  his  enter- 
prise. There  is  no  indication  that  the  growth  of  a  con- 
siderable owner  class  is  a  detriment  to  the  economic  life  of 
the  community  either  from  the  point  of  view  of  annual 
production  or  from  the  point  of  view  of  depreciation  of 
land  and  capital  used.  On  the  other  hand  there  is  much 
evidence  of  the  superior  prosperity,  self-interest  and  com- 
munity interest  of  the  owners. 

ABUSES. 

Up  to  this  point  the  different  classes  of  tenants  and  own- 
ers have  been  contrasted  with  one  fundamental  assumption, 
namely,  that  the  relationship  is  not  abused  by  either  the 
landlord  or  the  tenant.  But  the  economic  and  social  gen- 
eralizations are  often  upset  by  the  unscrupulous  of  one  class 
or  the  ignorant  and  shiftless  of  the  other. 

Unscrupulous  landlords,  with  the  aid  of  laws  making  it  a 
criminal  offense  to  leave  a  contract  while  in  debt,  have  cre- 
ated conditions  on  some  plantations  which  amount  to  peon- 
age  or  practical  re-enslavement  of  share  tenants.  Unsatis- 
factory crop  settlements  at  the  end  of  jthe  y^SLLJbave  been  at 
theroot  of  much  discontent  with  the  share  tenant  status. 

The  landlord  has  a  legalized  lien  on  the  crop  and,  if 


86  Negro  Migration 

he  is  also  a  merchant  who  encourages  the  reckless  ex- 
tension of  charge  accounts  during  the  year,  upon  which  he 
charges  a  high  rate  of  interest,  and  for  which  he  submits  a 
bill  or  verbal  statement  to  a  man  who  cannot  read  or  add, 
then  he  keeps  the  Negro  perpetually  in  debt. 

Investigations  following  the  Arkansas  riots  of  1920  have 
shown  that  this  condition,  on  some  plantations,  was  a  funda- 
mental factor  in  the  discontent. 

On  the  other  hand,  landlords  very  justly  complain  that 
they  HayejOi£yir^particular  in  renting  their  land  outright 
because,  as  the_rent Jsjto  be  paid  out  of  the  crop  over  which 
they  do  not  have  mudLconlrol,  and^-as-advances  for  food, 
fertilizer,  and  feed,  with  legitimate  interest  charges  are 
often  to  be  added  to  this  rentT  theyrisk  loosing  consider- 
able  sums  on  shiftless,  unsuccessful,  and  dishonest  tenants, 
and  thev  afc^  rgk  greater  rteprpriafjnn  nn  their  land. 

Such  individual  abuses  of  the  tenant  relationships  whether 
by  landlord  or  by  tenant,  are  but  additional  reasons  why 
landlords  prefer  to  stick  to  share  tenant  cultivation  and  why 
Negroes  prefer  to  escape  from  it. 

STANDARD  OF  LIVING. 

Family  Life. — The  chances  of  utilizing  a  large  family  as 
an  economic  asset  are  distinctly  in  favor  of  the  owner  and 
cash  tenant,  not  only  because  they  can  extend  their  opera- 
tions merely  by  renting  additional  acres,  but  also  for  the 
reason  that  the  share  tenant  is  a  dependent  whose  task  is 
usually  to  raise  the  cotton  crop.  His  food  and  clothing  are 
obtained  on  the  basis  of  credit  advances,  and  the  landlord 
therefore  prefers  to  keep  down  his  accounts  by  choosing 
single  men,  unless  the  tenant  has  several  children  of  suf- 
ficient size  to  work  in  the  fields. 

Food. — The  census  of  1910  indicated  that  in  Georgia  there 
were  1.6  cows  per  owner,  .9  per  cash  tenant  and  only  .6 
per  share  tenant.  This  successively  larger  number  per  cash 
tenant  and  owner  holds  good  through  the  different  sections 


The  Life  of  the  Tenant  Classes  87 

of  the  State.  Owners  and  cash  tenants  also  return  more 
pigs  and  poultry  than  the  share  tenants.  More  than  22,000 
share  tenant  farms  in  the  State,  or  40  per  cent  of  the  total, 
had  no  poultry.14  Share  tenants  are  not  only  usually 
without  the  capital  to  purchase  these  animals,  but  they  are, 
in  their  very  relationship  to  the  farm  not  in  a  position  advan- 
tageous for  raising  animals.  Saddled  as  they  are  with  the 
cotton  crop,  they  are  not  in  a  position  to  raise  the  feed  crops, 
as  was  previously  shown  by  the  diversification  index. 

Negro  share  tenants  are  as  backward  about  cultivating 
garden  products  as  they  are  about  domestic  animals.  There 
is  space  around  almost  every  house  for  a  small  kitchen  gar- 
den, but  in  the  absence  of  knowledge  or  much  encourage- 
ment to  cultivate  it,  it  goes  unused,  or  supports  only  a  few 
rowsoi  llcoiiarqs.J'  UDservers  ftave  otten  noted  with  sur- 
prise the  purchases  of  food  which  Negro  tenants  make 
which  could  easily  be  grown  at  home  in  spare  hours. 

During  the  summer  of  1917,  when  the  Negro  Migration 
was  at  its  height,  the  writer  visited  many  plantations.  The 
landlords  who  seemed  to  have  been  particularly  successful 
in  retaining  their  labor  were  all  questioned  as  to  how  they 
had  succeeded.  A  surprisingly  large  proportion  emphasized 
the  fact  that  they  had  encouraged  the  gardens  and  domestic 
animal  breeding  of  their  tenants.  These  items  of  home 
grown  food  add  materially  to  the  comfort  and  satisfaction 
of  the  farm  dwellers.  In  this  respect  owners  and  cash  ten- 
ants are  better  off  than  share  tenants. 

In  regard  to  food  purchased  there  is  also  a  distinct  limi- 
tation on  a  number  of  share  tenants.  If  they  are  without 
capital,  as  most  of  them  are,  they  depend  on  the  local  mer- 
chant or  the  landlord  to  credit  them  for  their  food  until 
*^*4he  crop  is  harvested.  In  many  cases  there  is  an  absolute 
limit  beyond  which  the  "one  horse"  farmer  cannot  go  in 
book  credit.  During  the  plantation  investigation  of  1911, 
Brooks  noted  that  in  many  cases  this  limit  was  $100. 
"Negro  Population  in  the  United  States.  1790-1915,  Table  69, 


88  Negro  Migration 

Clothing. — No  statistics  are  available  for  clothing  bought, 
but  the  same  limitations  of  credit  are  imposed  on  share 
tenants  in  this  respect  as  in  the  purchase  of  food. 

Housing. — The  figures  in  Table  11  above  indicate  that 
owners  uniformly  occupy  the  most  valuable  houses,  cash 
tenants  next  and  share  tenants  the  poorest.  The  average 
values  of  buildings  per  farm  in  the  State  as  a  whole  were : 
for  owner  farms,  $293,  cash  tenant  farms,  $189,  and  share 
tenant  farmc,  jfira  These  values  apeak  for  themselves. 
Even  the  owner's,  house  at  $295  is  poor  enough,  but  the 
hnii.qpg  qj  the  share  tenants  are  often  unspeaRable.  Con- 
structed of  green  lumber  and  in  ninety-nine  cases  out  of  a 
hundred  unpainted,  they  warp,  spring  jcracks  and  Jsaks,  and 
present  a  bare  and  uninviting  appearance  fromjvithout  and 
within.  .  They  are  predominantly  of  the  one  room  construc- 
tion^ sometimes  with  an  8'  x  1CK  lean-to  addition.  They 
seldom  have  more  than  one  or  two  small  windows  with 
rough  board  shutters,  and  almost  never  more  than  one  chim- 
ney, with  migrated  fireplace.  It  is  in  these  cabins  that 
families,  sometimes  large  ones,  with  the  added  company 
of  several  dogs,  live. 

The  general  significance  of  this  low  standard  of  living 
is  more  fully  treated  in  the  last  chapter.  It  cannot,  how- 
ever, be  too  frequently  emphasized  that  all  students  of  the 
race  question  agree  that  the  most  pressing  problem  of  the 
Negro  is  his  standard  of  living.  Educating  him  to  pro- 
duce more  hinges  on  the  ability  of  educating  him  to  want 
more.  As  a  passage  from  share  tenant  to  cash  tenant  or 
cash  tenant  to  owner,  means  an  improvement  in  the  stand- 
ard of  living,  it  is  a  movement  to  be  heartily  encouraged. 

^  PERMANENCY    OF    RESIDENCE. 

The  share  tenant,  the  renter,  and  the  owner  are  likewise 
successively  more  attached  to  tne  land  and  less  Hkely  to 


The  Life  of  the  Tenant  Classes  89 

move  often.  It  is  the  latter  landless,  well  nigh  purposeless 
element  which  makes  the  tasks  of  economic  improvement, 
social  betterment  and  leadership  among  the  Negroes  so  dif- 
ficult. 

The  following  table  indicates  the  shifting  tendency  of  the 
tenants  and  especially  the  share  tenants: 

TABLE  12. 

Georgia:  Percentage  Distribution  of  Farmers  by  Term  of 

Occupancy  and  Tenure. 

' All  Farmers ' Negro  Farmers——* 

Years  on                       Cash       Share  Cash      Share 

Farm        Owners   Ten'ts     Ten'ts  Owners   Ten'ts    Ten'ts 

Under  1  year..     7.6         25.9          44.6  6.0          20.1          39.8 

1  year 6.5          15.7          17.5  5.5          14.2          17.8 

2  to  4  years. . . .  21.9  33.0  26.3  22.7  35.0  29.1 
5  to  9  years....  20.5  15.1  7.7  22.8  17.8  8.8 
10  years  &  over  43.5          10.3           3.9  43.0          12.9           4.5 

Total 100.0        100.0        100.0        100.0        100.0        100.0 

(Ratios  computed  from  U.  S.  Census,  1910,  Bulletin  "Stability 
of  Farm  Operators.") 

Considerably  more  than  half  of  the  share  tenants  had 
been  occupying  their  farm  for  less  than  two  years,  and 
only  13.3  percent  had  been  occupying  their  farm  for  more 
thanJL^ears.  About  one-third  of  the  cash  tenants  had  been 
occupying  their  farm  less  than  two  years,  another  third 
from  two  to  five  years,  and  another  third  more  than  five 
years.  Of  the  owners  only  11.5  per  cent  had  been  on  their 
farm  less  than  a  year  and  considerably  more  than  two- 
thirds  had  been  there  for  over  five  years.  This  shifting  is 
due  more  to  the  tenant  system  than  to  racial  'characteristics. 
This  is  indicated  first  by  the  fact  that  Negro  owners  change 
their  residence  sn  my^h  Ip^  fi^«««+1y  +l?r.  share  tenants, 
and  by  the  fact  that  the  shifting  in  all  farmers,  both 
white  and  colored,  shown  in  the  table,  is  slightly  greater 
than  the  shifting  of  colored  farmers.  In  other  words  there 
are  proportionately  more  white  than  colored  cash  and  share 
tenants  who  have  been  on  their  farm  less  than  two  years. 

Such  restlessness  is  of  necessity  a  tremendous  stumbling 


90  Negro  Migration 

block  to  programs  inaugurated  in  order  to  foster  greater 
interest  in  the  farm  and  rural  life.  Inter-racial  good  will, 
or  even  the  individual  acquaintanceship  which  must  precede 
inter-racial  good  will  are  well-nigh  impossible.  From  the 
point  of  view  of  the  development  of  a  class  of  influential 
leaders,  the  shifting  of  the  tenant  classes  is  equally  dis- 
advantageous. 

GENERAL   STANDING  IN  THE   COMMUNITY. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  backbone  of  the  rural  Negro 
population  is  the  group  of  successful  Negro  owners  and 
renters  who  have  demonstrated  their  productivity  and  use- 
fulness to  the  community.  The  Negro  race  looks  to  this 
class  for  its  leaders  and  supporters  of  rural  institutions. 
The  low  incomes  of  wage-hands  and  tenants  preclude  their 
participation  to  any  marked  degree  in  the  financing  of  insti- 
tutions and  their  initiative,  undeveloped  because  of  the 
dependency  of  their  position,  is  not  sufficient  to  make  them 
successful  leaders. 

In  race  relations,  also,  the  existence  of  this  class  of  farm- 
ers, permanently  attached  to  the  land,  is  very  beneficial. 
The  fact  that  they  are  taxpayers  heightens  the  respect  which 
members  of  the  white  race  have  for  them.  The  fact  that 
their  occupancy  is  more  permanent  allows  acquaintance- 
ship to  grow  and  stimulates  confidence  in  their  activities. 

SUMMARY. 

These  complex  differences  among  the  tenant  classes  bring 
the  realization  that  much  more  is  involved  in  land  tenure 
in  the  South  than  the  mere  technical  details  of  farming. 
Tenure  systems  penetrate  even  deeper  than  the  economic 
life  of  the  rural  districts.  They  are  determinants  also  of 
the  social  structure.  Figures  on  changes  in  land  tenure 
are  therefore  convenient  methods  of  measuring  a  whole 
series  of  very  complex  economic  and  social  changes  in  rural 
life. 


The  Life  of  the  Tenant  Classes  91 

On  account  of  the  mistaken  apprehensions  concerning  the 
increase  in  tenancy  in  the  United  States,  the  fact  that  own- 
ership as  well  as  tenancy  is  increasing  cannot  be  too  greatly 
emphasized.  This  indicates  that  the  iijcxease  of  tenants  is 
recruited  from  the  inferior  labor  class  rather  than  from 
the  superior  owner  class.  Thinking  in  terms_of  the  individ- 
ual Negro,  it  is  evident  that  he  would  prefer,  if  possible, 
to  leave  the^status  of  laborer  and  enter  any  of  the  tenant 
clashes,  to  leave  the  status  of  share  tenant  and  become  renter 
or  owner,  and  to  leave  W  status  of  renter  and  become 
owner.  _  The  pressure  of  individual  motive  is  in  this  direc- 
tion. The  obstacles  are,  unwillingness  of  landlords  to  rent 
or  sell  land,  and  inability  of  the  individual,  through  mis-  V' 
fortune  or  shiftlessness,  to  accumulate  the  necessary  capital 
for  the  transition. 

Such  a  powerful  motive  at  play  in  the  Negro  population 
suggests  itself  immediately  as  possibly  a  principal  factor  in 
migration.  In  a  region  of  static  agricultural  conditions, 
where  plantations  continue  to  follow,  as  closely  as  possible 
the^old  way,  it  is  evident  that  young  Negroes,  as  they  grow 
up,  must  move  off  the  farm.  There  is  no  opportunity  for 
them  except  as  their  parents  die.  In  many  sections,  how- 
ever, the  movement  has  gone  so  far  as  to  cause  an  actual 
decrease  in  the  acreage  cultivated.  The  planters  have  in- 
sisted on  conditio" 3  so  uafagatahla  +n,  thf  forrr>  popula- 
tion  that  their  labor  supply  hag  gradually  dwindled,  or  they 
have  worn  out  their  lands  with  exhaustive  cotton  culture 
and  prefer  to  let  them  lie  idle.  The~frJegroes  from  these 
regions  have  mnyp/*  1*"f"  th*  g^tions  where  the  agricultural 
opportunities  are  betterT  and  many  of  them  have  become 
detached  from  the  soil  and  have  gone  to  the  city.  The  fol- 
lowing chapters  are  devoted  to  the  relationship  between 
these  changes  in  rural  organization  and  the  movement  of 
population. 


PART  II.    THE  POPULATION  MOVEMENTS 
CHAPTER  I 

THE  DIVERSITY  OF  MIGRATIONS. 

One  of  the  most  evident  ways  in  which  the  colored  and 
white  populations  of  Georgia  have  responded  to  these  dif- 
fering opportunities  in  different  sections  of  the  State  has 
been  by  migration.  The  land,  or  opportunity  is  localized, 
immovable,  and  more  or  less  fixed  in  quantity.  The  labor, 
on  the  other  hand  is  mobile,  and  may  shift  from  place  to 
place,  increasing  or  decreasing  in  quantity  with  the  changes 
in  demand.  It  is  the  inter-action  of  the  demands  of  the 
land  with  the  supply  of  agricultural  labor  which  has  fur- 
nished the  chief  causes  of  migration.  Urban  opportunity 
has  exerted  some  influence,  but  the  Negroes  in  1910  were 
still  80.9  per  cent  rural. 

Both  Negro  laborers  and  white  laborers  have  shifted  from 
certain  sections  into  certain  sections,  and  the  movements  of 
the  two  races  have  been  in  the  same  direction,  differing  only 
in  the  relative  numbers  of  migrants  furnished  by  each  race. 
This,  in  itself  is  an  indication  that  the  same  economic  and 
social  forces  are  at  work  among  the  two  races,  but  of 
course,  in  differing  degrees.  The  movements  have  their 
economic  and  social  effects  as  well  as  causes.  Social  institu- 
tions are  made  unstable  in  the  sections  losing  heavily  by 
migration,  and  in  sections  gaining,  race  problems  are  more 
aggravated  where  white  and  colored  people  who  are  un- 
accustomed to  one  another  are  brought  into  competition. 
These  effects  of  migration  will  be  discussed  more  at  length 
in  the  last  chapter  of  this  study.  The  present  chapter  will 
be  devoted  to  a  closer  study  of  the  areas  which  are  losing 


The  Diversity  of  Migrations  93 

and  those  which  are  gaining  in  Negro  population.  The  suc- 
ceeding chapter  shows  concretely  how  important  a  part  the 
tenant  system  plays  in  determining  the  population  increase 
of  rural  areas. 

city  and  country. 
The  urbanization  of  the  Negro  population  has  attracted 
much  attention,  especially  since  large  groups  have  recently 
moved  into  northern  cities.  As  the  census  makes  no  closer 
classification  of  the  birthplace  of  persons  than  the  State  of 
birth,  movement  into  cities  cannot  be  obtained  from  this 
source.  Increases  and  decreases  of  population,  however,  if 
marked,  constitute  a  good  measure  of  the  movement.  The 
following  figures  indicate  the  distinct  drift  cityward  of  both 
the  white  and  the  colored  people  of  Georgia : 

TABLE  13. 
Georgia:  Rural  and  Urban  Population^1) 


Number- 

Per  cent 

— % 

1890 

1900 

1910 

1890 

1900 

1910 

Negro  pop.* 

Urban  . . 

123,862 

161,061 

224,826 

14.4 

15.5 

19.1 

Rural    .. 

734,953 

873,752 

952,161 

85.6 

84.4 

80.9 

White  pop.- 

Urban  . . 

133,515 

185,123 

313,606 

13.6 

15.7 

21.9 

Rural    .. 

844,842 

996,171 

1,118,196 

86.0 

84.3 

78.1 

Total  pop.- 

Urban  .. 

257,472 

346,382 

538,650 

14.0 

15.6 

20.6 

Rural    .. 

844,842 

996,171 

1,118,196 

86.4 

84.3 

78.1 

These  figures  indicate  the  increasing  importance  of  city 
life  among  Negroes.  While  still  proportionately  a  small 
problem,  the  urban  problem  is  a  growing  one.  The  Negro 
urban  population  increased  from  14.4  per  cent  in  1890  to 
19.1  per  cent  in  1910.  The  greater  part  of  this  increase — 
from  15.5  to  19.1— was  in  the  single  decade  1900  to  1910. 
The  rural  Negroes,  however,  still  constitute  over  four-fifths 
of  the  total  population.  While  almost  as  large  a  proportion 
of  the  white  population  is  living  in  rural  districts,  the  white 
people  too  show  a  marked  drift  cityward.    This  tendency  is 

1  United  States  Census  of  1910,  Population,  Vol.  II,  p.  37. 


94  Negro  Migration 

slightly  greater  than  among  the  Negroes  since  the  white 
urban  population  increased  from  13.6  per  cent  in  1890  to 
21.9  per  cent  in  1910. 

These  percentages  may  be  misinterpreted  if  the  actual 
numbers  upon  which  they  are  based  are  not  kept  in  mind. 
The  percentage  of  increase  indicates  that  an  increasingly 
greater  portion  of  the  people  are  living  in  cities,  but  it  does 
not  indicate  that  the  number  of  people  in  the  country  is 
decreasing.  The  rural  population  is  growing,  but  the  city 
population  is  growing  faster.  The  first  three  columns  of 
Table  13  show  that  city  and  country  both  are  increasing  in 
Georgia,  and  that  the  cities  merely  receive  a  part  of  the  nat- 
ural increment  of  the  country  districts,  a  part  remaining  to 
swell  the  numbers  of  rural  inhabitants.  An  examination 
of  the  numerical  increases  in  the  table  bring  this  out 
more  clearly.  While  the  percentage  of  Negroes  living  in 
rural  communities  decreased  from  85.6  in  1890  to  80.9  in 
1910,  the  number  increased  from  734,953  to  952,161,  a  nu- 
merical increase  of  78,409  and  a  rate  of  increase  of  9  per 
cent.  On  the  other  hand  the  cities  increased  at  a  faster 
rate,  because  of  the  fact  that  their  population  was  in  the 
beginning  much  smaller  than  that  of  the  country  districts. 
The  cities  increased  from  123,862  in  1890  to  224,826  in 
1910,  a  percentage  increase  of  39.6  and  a  numerical  in- 
crease of  63,765. 

When  it  is  considered  that  some  of  the  increase  in  city 
population  is  due  to  the  extension  of  ^boundaries  &nd 
some  to  the  growth  of  new  towns  to  such  a  size  that  they 
are  included  in  the  urban  area,  it  is  seen  that  the  urban 
increase  is  by  no  means  so  significant  as  that  in  rural  dis- 
tricts. In  fact,  about  15,000  of  the  urban  increase  was  due 
to  the  growth  of  towns  which  were  less  than  2,500  in  popu- 
lation in  1900  and  greater  than  2,500  in  1910.  That  is  to 
say  14  incorporated  places  which  were  villages  of  less  than 
2,500  in  1900  were  for  that  reason  enumerated  as  "rural," 


The  Diversity  of  Migrations  95 

but  on  account  of  10  years'  growth  they  were  enumerated 
as  urban  by  the  census  of  1910.  Such  a  change,  of  course, 
does  not  indicate  as  large  a  migration  as  might  be  assumed 
from  the  statistics  of  increase  in  urban  population.  It 
therefore  appears  that  while  there  is  a  distinct  trend  toward 
urbanization,  the  movements  of  paramount  importance  in 
Georgia  are  those  arising  from  the  shifting  of  farm  popula- 
tion. 

THE  RURAL  DISTRICTS. 

1.  Villages. — The  census  calls  any  town  of  less  than  2,500 
inhabitants  a  rural  community.  In  some  sections  of  the 
country  this  renders  their  classification  deceptive.  Some 
unincorporated  rural  communities  are  very  thickly  popu- 
lated, while  some  towns,  with  wide  limits  of  incorporation 
are  thinly  populated  and  concerned  chiefly  with  agricultural 
interests  rather  than  with  manufacture  and  trade.  They 
depend  upon  the  surrounding  agricultural  areas  for  food 
and  raw  materials.  It  is  obvious  that  in  these  cases  the 
census  classification  would  be  inaccurate.  In  manufactur- 
ing sections  it  would  include  too  much.  Suburbs  of  cities, 
outside  of  corporate  limits,  and  manufacturing  villages  of 
less  than  2,500  inhabitants  whose  occupations  are  not  in  any 
sense  rural,  and  whose  homes  are  clustered  city  fashion, 
around  a  large  manufacturing  plant,  are  obviously  not  as 
rural  as  towns  slightly  over  2,500  which  depend  for  the 
support  of  their  activities  on  surrounding  farming  popula- 
tions. Such  inaccuracies  do  not  apply  to  any  great  extent  to 
Georgia,  or  for  that  matter,  to  any  part  of  the  Cotton  Belt. 

The  following  table  indicates  the  proportion  of  the  total 
population  in  1910  which  was  living  in  villages  of  between 
250  and  2,500  inhabitants  and  which  was  classed  as  rural 
by  the  census.  The  "rural"  counties  are  grouped  accord- 
ing as  they  are  losing  by  migration,  gaining  slowly  or  gain- 
ing rapidly.2   (See  shading  of  Map  II.) 

2  Computed  from  U.  S.  Census  of  1910,  Population,  Vol.  II. 
Analysis  for  "Georgia,"  Table  1,  giving  population  of  "Minor 
Civil  Divisions." 


Village 

Per  cent  Per  cent 

Popu- 

in      in  open 

lation 

Villages  Country 

55,698 

12.5          87.5 

71,900 

17.1          82.9 

109,157 

19.1          80.9 

96  Negro  Migration 

TABLE  14. 

Georgia:    Percentage  of  Total  Population  Living  in  Villages 

of  250  to  2,500. 

(103  "Rural"  Counties.) 

Total 

County  P'opu- 

Group  lation 

Decreasing  in  population. 460,449 

Increasing    slowly 410,271 

Increasing    rapidly 565,991 

Thus  83.6  per  cent  of  all  the  population  of  these  counties 
live  in  the  open  country.  Even  the  16.4  per  cent  in  villages 
is  largely  concerned  with  rural  affairs.  In  the  cotton  belt 
"these  places  consist  merely  of  the  merchandizing,  ginning 
and  marketing  concerns  with  a  sprinkling  of  professional 
men  whose  clients  are  nearly  all  farmers. 

In  point  of  numbers  these  villages  of  less  than  2,500 
are  not  very  important.  There  were  516  in  Georgia  in  1910. 
Their  aggregate  population  was  283,803,  or  only  1 1  per  cent 
of  the  total  population  of  the  State.3 

It  is  therefore  evident  that  a  study  of  population  classed 
as  "rural"  by  the  Census,  represents  in  Georgia  a  compara- 
tively accurate  picture  of  conditions  among  the  farming 
population  even  though  the  small  population  of  villages  is 
included  as  rural. 

2.  The  Open  Country. — Travelers  in  the  South  frequently 
remark  on  the  wide  stretches  of  country  and  the  separation 
of  houses.  It  is  not  at  all  unusual  to  go  several  miles 
without  seeing  a  house.  The  passing  of  the  plantation  sys- 
tem has  done  away  with  the  "quarters"  grouped  around  the 

■and  lamWing,  flnH  in  Northern  Ce^x^A ^   ill   lilt    mountains' 

some  lumbering  is  also  done.  The  distribution  of  the 
Negroes  of  Georgia  who  are  engaged  in  gainful  occupations 
indicates  that,  outside  of  city  and  transportation  trades,  the 

8  United  States  Census  of  1910,  Population,  See  Note  2. 


The  Diversity  of  Migrations  97 

great  mass  is  engaged  in  agriculture.*  Any  movement  of 
population  in  the  rural  districts  is,  therefore,  closely  related 
to  the  conditions  of  farm  life. 


Table  15. 

Negroes  of  Georgia  10  Years  of  Age  and  Over  Engaged  in 
Gainful  Occupations. 

Occupations                    Total  Male  Female 

Agriculture  410,266  257,974  152,292 

Manufacturing  and  Trades ....     43,933  39,309  4,624 

Domestic  Service 100,809  14,615  86,194 

Transportation  22,869  22,865  4 

All  other  37,659  31,849  5,810 

Total   615,536  366,612  248,924 


3.  Local  Migration. — One  further  fact  is  to  be  noted 
before  the  study  of  migration  is  made  by  counties,  namely, 
that  local  movements,  which  are  very  hard  to  measure,  and 
yet  which  are  of  importance,  take  place  within  counties. 
These  cannot  be  measured  by  studying  the  increases  and  de- 
creases of  the  county  as  a  whole.  The  change  from  the 
labor  system  to  the  tenant  system  of  cultivating  a  single  large 
plantation  often  involves  a  local  increase  of  considerable  sig- 
nificance. Usually  the  proportion  who  are  young,  single 
men  is  higher  among  laborers  than  among  tenants.  A 
change  from  laborers  to  tenants  therefore  means  an  increase 
in  the  plantation  population  proportionate  to  the  size  of  the 
tenant  families.  On  the  other  hand,  the  use  of  a  large  num- 
ber of  tenant  farms  for  orchards,  or  for  pasture  land  would 
reduce  the  population  of  a  local  district.  These  local  move- 
ments are  bewildering  in  their  number  and  effects. 

Some  idea  of  local  increses  can  be  gained  by  the  figures 
for  the  population  of  minor  civil  divisions  of  selected 
counties.5 

*  Compiled  from  Census  of  1910,  Occupations,  p.  449-450. 
5  U.  S.  Census  of  1900  and  1910.    The  census  does  not  publish 


98  Negro  Migration 

The  irregularity  of  increases  and  decreases  in  local  areas 
is  marked.  As  a  whole,  the  Negro  population  of  Crawford 
County,  decreased  during  the  decade,  by  15.4  per  cent.  The 
area  represented  by  districts  number  573  and  577,  however, 
gained  50  Negroes,  while  the  other  distiicts  showed  losses  in 
colored  population  ranging  from  — 50  to  — 340.  Greene 
County  as  a  whole  increased  by  3.7  per  cent.  Six  of  its 
minor  civil  divisions,  however,  actually  decreased,  while  the 
increases  among  Negroes  in  the  others  ranged  from  9  to 
570.  Jackson  County  as  a  whole  increased  13.2  per  cent. 
Five  of  its  minor  civil  divisions,  however,  showed  small  de- 
creases, while  the  increases  in  the  others  ranged  from 
25  to  508. 

These  irregular  increases  are  too  divergent  to  be  explained 
by  differences  in  birth  and  death  rates.  There  can  be  no 
essential  difference  in  health  conditions  because  the  areas  are 
small  and  contiguous.  It  therefore  appears  that  there  is  a 
constant  and  widespread  shifting  of  the  Negro  population 
which  is  too  great  to  be  measured  accurately  for  many  of 
these  local  areas.  L,ocal  studies  of  migration  in  limited  areas 
would  indicate  minutely  the  exact  causes  for  gain  and  loss  in 
Negro  population.  This  study  is,  however,  confined  to  the 
presentation  of  increases  and  decreases  in  whole  counties 
on  which  accurate  data  is  available  in  the  Census.  As  such 
it  is  representative  of  general  conditions  in  the  county,  but 
it  is  to  be  remembered  that  these  conditions  may  be  concen- 
trated in  local  areas  and  not  spread  evenly  over  all  of  the 
rural  districts. 

DIRECTION  OF  RURAL  MIGRATION 

In  order  to  determine  the  direction  and  extent  of  the 
movements  of  Negro  population  the  best  method  is  to  study 
the  increases  in  the  towns  and  counties  of  Georgia,  and  com- 

the  population  of  minor  civil  divisions  by  race,  but  these  figures 
were  obtained  from  an  unpublished  tabulation  made  in  the  Cen- 
sus Office  under  the  direction  of  Dr.  Thomas  Jesse  Jones,  and 
loaned  for  this  study. 


The  Diversity  of  Migrations 


99 


MA»  It. 

GEORGIA 

y«W«ntnt  of  Increase  In  Hegro  Rural  Population. 


Urban  and  Mountain  Counties. 

□ 

Percentage  Inoiea.se  in  Rural  Counties 
Under  7$  (Losing  by 
Migration) 

1 1  to  15  (Stationary^ 

«15  to  20  (Gaming  slow- 
ly by  Migration) 

20  and  over  (Gaining 
rapidly  by  Migration) 


ioo  Negro  Migration 

pare  these  local  increases  with  the  increase  in  the  total  Negro 
population  of  the  United  States  during  the  decade  1900-1910. 
The  rate  of  increase  for  the  whole  country,  11.2  per  cent, 
may  be  taken  as  a  rather  accurate  measure  of  the  excess  of 
Negro  births  over  deaths  for  the  10  years,  since  the  country 
as  a  whole  was  neither  gaining  nor  losing  perceptibly  by  in- 
ternational Negro  migration.  In  order  that  this  determin- 
ation might  not  be  too  arbitrary,  however,  a  range  from  7j^ 
to  15  per  cent  may  be  taken  as  indicative  of  excess  of  births 
over  deaths.  Any  area  whose  increase  in  Negro  population 
for  the  decade  falls  between  these  limits  may  be  considered  a 
stationary  area  as  far  as  perceptible  migration  is  concerned. 

Districts  whose  Negro  population  increased  at  a  rate 
slower  than  7j4  per  cent  may  be  considered  as  losing  by 
migration  and  those  increasing  at  a  rate  faster  than  15  per 
cent  considered  as  gaining  by  migration.  Districts  increas- 
ing at  a  rate  of  over  20  per  cent  can  be  said  to  be  gaining 
rapidly  by  migration. 

Map  II  indicates  these  rates  of  increase  for  the  rural  dis- 
tricts of  Georgia.6  Of  the  144  counties  shown  on  the  map 
the  16  mountain  counties  and  24  counties  containing  towns 
of  over  2,500  are  left  unshaded.  The  remaining  104  rural 
counties  are  shaded  to  indicate  their  increase  in  Negroes. 
The  shading  shows  that  the  7  stationary  counties  are  well 
scattered.  Of  the  97  other  counties,  37  were  losing,  24 
gaining  slowly  and  36  gaining  rapidly.  A  glance  at  the  map 
shows  that  the  decreasing  area  corresponds  closely  to  the 

6  Based  on  percentages  of  increase  shown  in  U.  S.  Census 
"Negro  Population  in  the  United  Slates,  1790-1915."  Table  II. 
Counties  grouped  at  the  end  of  this  table  under  "Notes  on 
Changes  in  Boundaries"  are  grouped  in  the  Map  and  the  in- 
crease figured  for  the  whole  area  because  changes  in  county 
lines  make  census  figures  deceptive  as  to  increase  or  decrease 
of  individual  counties  in  the  area.  In  case  a  city  was  located 
in  such  an  area  its  population  was  deducted.  Inasmuch  as  there 
was  an  adjustment  between  the  Urban  county  of  Clarke  and  the 
rural  county  of  Oglethorpe,  the  latter  was  left  unshaded. 


The  Diversity  of  Migrations  ioi 

ante-bellum  Black  Belt.  This  area  contains  27  of  the  de- 
creasing counties,  while  the  upper  Piedmont  contains  only 
7  and  the  Wiregrass  3.  The  areas  increasing  slowly  em- 
brace 25  counties,  which  lie  mostly  on  the  borders  of  the 
Black  Belt.  Two  of  these  counties  are  on  the  border  of  the 
southwest  Black  Belt,  only  7  on  the  edges  of  the  central 
Black  Belt,  8  in  the  Upper  Piedmont  and  7  in  Wiregrass. 
Of  the  36  rapidly  increasing  counties,  24  are  in  the 
Wiregrass  and  the  adjacent  southwest  IBlack  Belt  sec- 
tion; 5  are  in  the  Upper  Piedmont  6  are  on  the  borders 
of  the  Black  Belt. 

It  may  therefore  be  said  that  the  ante-bellum  central 
and  coast  Black  Belts  are  losing,  the  borders  of  the  Black 
Belt,  including  most  of  the  Upper  Piedmont,  gaining  slowly, 
the  Wiregrass  and  southwest  Black  Belt  gaining  rapidly. 

Numerically  this  migration  may  be  calculated  by  grouping 
the  counties  according  to  their  shading  on  Map  II  into  the 
following  table: 

TABLE  16. 
Migration  of  Negroes  in  Georgia,(7)  1900-1910. 
Excess  of 
Negro  Births              Actual     Migration 
Popu-  over              Increase    Indicated 
lation,  Deaths  at           1900-         by  Dif- 
Districts               1900  IS  Per  cent          1910         ference 
Rural- 
Mountain 10,017  1,503         —1,171        —2,674 

Areas  losing...      249,659  37,449          —1,301        —38,750 
Stationary 

areas  .......        54,854  8,228               6,011        —2,217 

Areas  gaining 

slowly   142,268  21,340             24,961             3,621 

Areas  gaining 

rapidly   231,326  34,699             61,446           26,747 

Rural  area  of 
counties  con- 
taining a  city     185,628  27,844         —11,537        —39,381 
Cities  161,061  24,159             63,765           39,606 

TOTAL 1,034,813  155,222  142,174        —13,048 

T  Computed  from  U.  S.  Census,  1910,  Negro  Population  in  the 
United  States,   1790-1915,  Table  II.     A  check  on  this  method 


102  Negro  Migration 

The  first  column  indicates  the  1900  population  of  the 
various  groups  of  counties.  The  second  indicates  the  nat- 
ural increase  which  might  have  been  expected  in  the  popu- 
lation if  there  had  been  no  movement  and  if  the  excess  of 
births  over  deaths  had  caused  an  increase  of  15  per  cent  dur- 
ing the  decade.  Although  the  Negroes  of  the  country  as  a 
whole  increased  only  11.2  per  cent,  and  the  Negroes  of  Geor- 
gia 13.2  per  cent,  it  is  estimated  that  the  excess  of  births  over 
deaths  in  Georgia  would  have  caused  that  State  to  increase 
by  15  per  cent,  had  Georgia  not  suffered  loss  by  migration. 
The  third  column  is  the  actual  increase  in  colored  popula- 
tion between  1900  and  1910,  as  shown  by  the  census.  By 
subtracting  the  third  from  the  second  column,  i.  e.,  subtract- 
ing the  actual  increase  from  the  expected  increase  of  15  per 
cent,  we  obtain  a  fairly  good  approximation  of  the  extent  to 
which  the  actual  increase  by  excess  of  births  over  deaths  is 
offset  by  population  movement.  This  is  shown  in  column  4. 
The  Negro  population  of  the  State  was  1,034,813  in  1900.  If 
it  had  increased  by  15  per  cent  (155,222)  it  would  have  been 
1,190,035 ;  such,  however,  was  not  the  case.  The  1910  census 
showed  only  1,176,987  Negroes,  an  increase  of  only  142,174. 
This  leaves  the  difference  between  115,222  and  142,174,  or 
13,048,  to  be  accounted  for  by  migration  from  the  State. 
As  a  matter  of  fact  the  figures  as  to  birthplace  confirm  this 
assumption  closely.     (See  footnote  7.) 

It  will  be  noted  from  Table  16  that  the  mountain  counties, 
decreasing    rural    counties,    and    stationary    counties    lost 

of  estimating  migration  is  provided  by  comparing  totals  with 
Table  19,  Negro  Population  in  the  United  States.  Whereas, 
this  estimate  indicates  that  the  State  as  a  whole  lost  13,048 
by  migration,  Table  19  indicates  an  increase  of  19,004  Georgia- 
born  Negroes  outside  the  State,  from  this  the  increase  of  1,257 
born  elsewhere  but  living  in  the  State  should  be  deducted, 
leaving  an  excess  of  17,747  in  the  increase  of  emigrants  over  the 
increase  of  immigrants.  The  estimate  in  Column  4,  Table  16,  is, 
therefore,  conservative  because  it  falls  4,700  below  the  actual 
figures  in  Table  19. 


The  Diversity  of  Migrations 


103 


about  43,641  Negroes  by  migration.  The  slowly 
increasing  counties  of  the  Piedmont  and  borders  of  the 
Black  Belt  gained  about  3,621  and  the  rapidly  increasing 
Wiregrass  about  26,747.  As  a  whole  the  urban  counties 
gained  only  about  200.  Within  these  urban  counties  there 
was  a  loss  of  the  rural  districts  to  the  cities  both  by  exten- 
sion of  city  boundaries  to  include  rural  areas,  and  by  migra- 
ton,  for  while  the  total  population  of  these  counties  was 
practically  stationary,  the  population  of  the  towns  increased 
by  39,606,  and  the  population  of  adjacent  rural  districts  de- 
creased 39,387. 

DIAGRAM  I. 


RELATION  OF  INCREASE  IN  NEGRO  POPULATION 
TO  INCREASE  IN  NEGRO  FARMERS,  1900-10. 
(Counties  grouped  according  to  shading  of  Map 


XI.) 


Counties  grouped  ac- 
cording to  movement 
of  population. 


Losing  (Mountains) 


Losing  (Blaok  Belt) 


Percentage  of  Increase  In: 
Population  ■■      Farmers  V7A 


Stationary 


Gaining  Slowly 


Gaining  Rapidly 


The  fact  that  the  mountain  counties  included  less  than  one 
per  cent  of  the  Negroes  of  the  State  in  1900  and  that  these 
small  numbers  are  dwindling,  warrants  their  exclusion  from 
any  further  study  of  Negro  migration.  The  Negroes  in 
these  counties  are  the  descendants  of  the  few  slaves  who 
were  owned  in  this  section.  For  the  present,  therefore,  the 
migration  from  the  Black  Belt  rural  counties  to  the  Piedmont 
and  Wiregrass  rural  counties  will  be  analyzed  more  closely. 

As  to  the  causes  of  this  movement :  We  may  dismiss  almost 


104  Negro  Migration 

immediately  any  assumption  that  it  is  due  to  inherent  race 
traits  rather  than  to  the  environment,  for  the  white  popu- 
laton  is  moving  in  the  same  direction.  It  was  previously 
noted  that  the  increases  in  both  white  and  colored  popula- 
tion for  the  various  counties  are  very  similar.8 

Using  the  increase  in  total  number  of  farms  as  the  best 
index  of  opportunity,  we  note  that  increase  in  farms  corre- 
sponds closely  with  increase  in  population  (see  also  Table 
17).  This  is  shown  graphically  on  Diagram  I,  which  charts 
the  percentage  increase  1900-1910  in  farms  operated  by  Ne- 
groes and  in  the  Negro  population.  The  diagram  is  based 
on  the  total  increase  in  the  groups  of  counties  as  combined 
in  Table  16.  The  fact  that  they  vary  so  nearly  together 
shows  that  the  presence  or  absence  of  opportunity  for  farm- 
ers is  a  powerful  factor  in  the  rural  population  movement. 

8  See  Footnote  1,   Introduction. 


CHAPTER  II 
THE  MOVEMENTS  OF  COUNTRYMEN 

It  is  evident  from  the  material  already  presented  that 
migrations  of  Negroes  are  by  no  means  new  phenomena.  The 
descriptions  of  the  actions  of  f  reedmen  during  the  period  of 
disorganization  known  as  reconstruction,  indicate  that  the 
movement  started  with  emancipation.  This  very  unstable 
condition  soon  settled  down  to  a  steady  flow  of  Negroes  from 
the  old  Black  Belts.  Examination  of  past  censuses  by  the 
same  methods  used  in  the  previous  chapter  indicates  that 
mos_t  of  the  counties  in  the  ante-bellum  Black  Belt  of  Georgia 
have  been  stationary  or  decreasing  almost  continuously  since 
1880.  Examination  of  birthplace  statistics  of  the  Census 
indicates  that  there  has  also  been  a  shift  from  the  Border 
States  northward  and  from  the  old  Cotton  States  westward 
for  the  past  forty  years. 

At  this  stage  it  should  also  be  emphasized  that  the  move- 
ment is  by  no  means  a  simple  phenomenon.  It  arises  from 
complex  social  and  economic  conditions  and  is  attended 
by  complex  social  and  economic  changes.  One  of  the  most 
enlightening  indications  of  the  desire  of  the  Negro  to  take 
advantage  of  his  agricultural  opportunity  and  the  extent  to 
which  he  is  able  to  do  so  is  found  in  a  study  of  rural  migra- 
tion. As  previously  indicated,  the  principal  shift  before 
1915  was  from  one  rural  district  to  another  within  the 
.South  1 — *  movement  from  certain  agricultural  communities 
to  other  agricultural  communities.  The  number  moving  from 
country  to  city  was  relatively  small.  Since  1910,  however,  the 
entrance  of  the  boll  weevil  into  Georgia  and  the  exceptional 
industrial  opportunities  of  the  North  have  changed  the  cur- 
rent of  migration.  The  boll  weevil  lessened  opportunity  in 
the  soutnern  portion  of  the  State,  slackened  the  immigration 


1 

1 06  NJegro  Migration 

,  /  *>  CL^ji 

into  the  section,  and,,' in  some  cases,  caused  planters  «to  cut- 

independent  farmers/bec^ne  discouraged  and  move^f  away.1 

j-iridffipfnrlniat  fnrmnn  brrmrtff  diirourageH  grid  mnvH  away.- 

This  emigration  from  the  boll  weevil  section,  with  the 

normal  amount  of  emigration  from  the  Black  Belt,  gave  a 

much  greater  impetus  to  the  previously  slow  current  moving 

to  the  North.     The  first  part  of  this  chapter  is  devoted  to  a 

closer  analysis  of  the  movement  from  1900  to  1910,  and  the 

second  part  to  a  description  of  the  movement  since  1915  in  so 

far  as  it  affects  rural  districts. 

CAUSES  OF  MIGRATION  BEFORE  1910 

The  more  critical  student  will  doubtless  object  that  the 
method  used  in  the  previous  chapter  lacks  sufficient  defi- 
niteness  in  relating  migration  to  farm  conditions.  Map  II 
indicated  the  general  movements  in  the  geographical  belts, 
but  in  these  belts  exceptional  counties  were  noted  whose 
population  movement  differs  from  that  in  the  surrounding 
counties.  It  cannot  be  said,  therefore,  that  population  move- 
ment corresponds  perfectly  with  any  geographic  section  or 
with  any  grouping  of  counties  based  on  the  percentage  which 
Negroes  form  of  the  total  population.  The  next  logical  step 
is  to  search  for  a  third  condition  whose  variations  corre- 
spond to  the  changes  in  population  more  closely  than  do 

1  In  description  of  this  movement  it  is  felt  that  clearness  and 
brevity  demand  that  the  detailed  facts  be  largely  based  upon 
a  study  of  Georgia.  The  States  north  of  Georgia  were  not  af- 
fected by  the  boll  weevil  and  hence  did  not  suffer  nearly  the 
same  loss  in  Negro  population.  The  States  west  of  Georgia  had 
been  previously  affected  in  a  similar  manner.  The  slight  in- 
crease in  Texas  and  the  actual  decrease  in  Louisiana,  noted  in 
Table  1,  are,  in  a  measure,  due  to  the  fact  that  these  two  States 
were  affected  by  the  weevil  before  1910.  Floods  in  Alabama, 
and  tariff  troubles  with  sugar  in  Louisiana,  aggravated  the  con- 
ditions in  these  States.  A  good  general  idea  of  how  the  other 
States  compare  with  Georgia  in  respect  to  the  loss  of  Negroes 
can  be  gained  from  the  report  of  the  U.  S.  Department  of 
Labor,  "Negro  Migration  in  1916-17,"  Washington,  Government 
Printing  Office,  1919. 


The  Movements  of  Countrymen  107 

variations  in  geographic  location  or  percent  Negro  in  the 
total  population. 

In  view  of  the  importance  of  land  tenure  as  outlined  in 
Part  I,  this  factor  suggests  itself  immediately.  For  the 
benefit  of  those  who  may  have  a  more  scientific  interest  in 
the  Negro  population  movements  and  social  measurements,  a 
more  accurate  statistical  determination  of  the  relation 
between  changes  in  land  tenure  and  rural  population  move- 
ment between  1900  and  1910  is  given  in  the  statistical  appen- 
dix. 

The  previous  chapter  (Map  II  and  Diagram  I)  indicated 
that  increase  in  population  and  increase  in  farms  are  closely 
ronnecte3.  The,  mere/presentation  of  the  fart  that  farms 
and  population  show  similar  rates  of  increase  in  the  coun- 
ties as  grouped  in  Diagram  I  leaves  two  questions  unsolved : 
first,  the  fact  that  the  two  fluctuate  together  does  not 
show  which  is  the  cause  and  which  the  effect;  second,  it 
does  not  show  the  extent  to  which  one  is  the  cause  of  the 
other. 

The  first  difficulty  is  one  which  arises  because  so  many 
social  and  economic  phenomena  may  be  now  a  cause  and 
again  an  effect  of  other  phenomena.  This  is  the  case 
with  land  tenure  and  population  movement.  In 
decreasing  counties  it  is  easy  to  see  how  both  could  be 
true.  Worn  out  land,  or  landlords  who  would  rather  let 
their  land  lie  idle  than  grant  Negroes'  demands  to  rent, 
would  cause  an  exodus  from  the  county.  On  the  other  hand, 
an  exodus  caused  by  some  external  factor  such  as  higher 
wages  could  easily  cause  a  decrease  in  farms  cultivated. 
Unless,  however,  agricultural  conditions  remain  less  favor- 
able in  the  deserted  section  than  in  surrounding  areas, 
laborers  and  share  tenants  will  be  brought  back.  Over  a  con- 
siderable period  of  time,  therefore,  even  in  decreasing  coun- 
ties the  cause-effect  relationship  seems  to  have  been  from 
farming  conditions  to  population  movement  more  than  from 
population  movement  to  farming  conditions.     In  counties 


108  Negro  Migration 

increasing  rapidly  by  migration  the  relationship  is  clearer 
still.  There  is  no  way  for  population  movement  alone  to 
increase  the  number  of  independent  farmers  unless  oppor- 
tunity previously  exists  for  them.  In  fact,  when  planters 
desire  to  hold  to  the  labor  or  share  tenant  system,  an  influx  of 
Negroes  aids  them  because  it  increases  the  available  labor 
supply. 

If,  therefore,  it  can  be  established  that  increase  in  inde- 
pendent Negro  farmers  is  more  closely  associated  with  in- 
crease in  population  than  is  increase  in  Negro  farm  labor, 
then  we  will  have  shown  that  the  lack  of  agricultural  oppor- 
tunity leads  to  movement  from  a  district  while  favorable 
opportunity  for  farmers  leads  to  movement  into  a  district  or 
to  such  a  condition  that  young  men  find  places  on  farms  as 
they  grow  up  and  the  county  does  not  lose  them. 

To  establish  this  point  a  quantitative  statement  of  the 
relationship  is  desirable.  This  can  be  arrived  at  only  by  em- 
ploying a  logical  and  exact  method  of  measuring  the  relation- 
ship between  such  factors  which  vary  in  a  number  of  cases.2 

The  following  table  is  constructed  so  as  to  make  these 
variations  in  Negro  population  and  farm  increase  stand  out 
for  the  counties  in  Georgia. 

In  order  that  the  comparisons  might  be  accurate,  all  coun- 
ties were  eliminated  from  consideration  in  which  very  small 
Negro  rural  population,  or  suburban  populations  rendered 

2  The  method  of  correlation  is  presented  in  as  popular  a  form 
as  possible.  Sufficient  use  has  been  made  of  it  in  measuring 
relationships  in  economics  and  biology  to  warrant  the  omission 
of  the  detailed  mathematical  proof  of  the  assumptions  under- 
lying it.  These  are  given  fully  by  G.  U.  Yule  in  "An  Introduc- 
tion to  the  Theory  of  Statistics,"  and  by  H.  L.  Moore,  in 
"Forecasting  the  Yield  and  Price  of  Cotton."  The  principal 
steps  in  the  reasoning  and  abridged  proof  of  the  derivation  of 
the  Pearsonian  co-efficient  of  correlation  are  given  in  the  sta- 
tistical appendix. 


The  Movements  of  Countrymen 
Table  17 

Negro  Population  and  Farm  Increases,  Georgia,  1900-1910 

( — )  Minus  sign  denotes  decrease. 


109 


COUNTIES 


ll 


55 

(y) 


IS 


« 


a 

•Si  I 

(Y) 


(X) 


"sa-a 


(XY) 


•9 


(Y2) 


Stewart 

Crawford 

Wilkinson 

Marion 

Talbot 

Schley 

Gordon 

Liberty 

Heard 

Oconee 

Clinch 

Jones 

McDuffie 

Baldwin 

Camden 

Mcintosh 

Chattahoochee 

Upson 

Ware 

Glascock 

Echols 

Forsyth 

Douglas , 

Bartow 

Webster 

Putnam 

Quitman 

Bryan 

Hall 

Banks 

Paulding 

Fayette 

Glynn 

Gwinnett .... 

Taylor 

Haralson 

Butts 

Greene 

Charlton 

Campbell .... 


-1,456 

—896 

—876 

—485 

—309 

—292 

—275 

—259 

—258 

—209 

—212 

—162 

—158 

—148 

—133 

—103 

—74 

—64 

—25 

—8 

1 

15 

16 

38 

68 

121 

141 

184 

215 

224 

243 

254 

287 

288 

353 

383 

393 

419 

446 

448 


69 

31 

—80 

188 

364 

30 

30 

131 

141 

348 

46 

421 

210 

84 

—30 

-144 

156 

273 

30 

85 

15 

63 

101 

197 

51 

515 

144 

37 

108 

114 

58 

190 

—19 

140 

281 

90 

267 

526 

—9 

180 


-2,156 
-1,596 
-1,576 
-1,185 
-1,009 
—992 
—975 
—959 
—958 
—909 
—912 
—862 
—858 
—848 
—833 
—803 
—774 
—764 
—725 
—708 
—699 
—685 
—684 
—662 
—632 
—579 
—559 
—516 
—485 
—476 
—457 
—446 
—413 
—412 
—347 
—317 
—307 
—281 
—254 
—252 


—231 
—269 
—380 
—112 
64 
—270 
—270 
—169 
—159 
48 
—254 

121 
—90 
—216 
—330 
—444 
—144 
—27 
—270 
—215 
—285 
—237 
—199 
—103 
—249 

215 
—156 
—263 
—192 
—186 
—242 
—110 
—319 
—160 
—19 
—210 
—33 

226 
—309 
—120 


498 
429 
599 
133 

—65 
268 
263 
162 
152 

—44 
232 

-104 

77 

183 


4,648 

2,547 

2,484 

1,404 

1,018 

984 

951 

920 

918 

826 

832 

743 

736 

719 


275 
357 

694 
645 

111 

599 

21 

584 

196 

527 

152 

501 

199 

489 

162 

469 

136 

468 

68 

438 

157 

399 

—124 

335 

87 

312 

136 

266 

93 

235 

89 

227 

111 

209 

49 

199 

132 

171 

66 

168 

7 

120 

67 

97 

10 

94 

—64 

79 

78 

65 

30 

64 

no 


Negro  Migration 
Table   17— Continued 


COUNTIES 


Incr. 

(y) 


Incr. 

(x) 


Dev. 

(Y) 


Dev. 
(X) 


Prod. 

(XY) 


Sq. 
(Y«) 


Rockdale. 
Warren  .  . 
Miller.  .  .  . 

Polk 

Pierce.  .  .  . 

Effingham 
Clayton . . . 
Telfair...  . 
Hancock . . 
Harris .... 

Spalding.  . 

Macon 

Henry .... 

Pike 

Clay 


Taliaferro.  . 
Lincoln .... 
Meriwether . 

Baker 

Jackson .... 

Madison .  . . 

Johnson 

Hart 

Wayne 

Lee 


Dougherty , 
Monroe . . . 
Randolph. 
Walton.  .. 
Jefferson.  . , 

Columbia.  . 
Calhoun . . . 
Twiggs.... 
Pulaski 
Jasper 

Morgan 
Lowndes.  . , 

Early 

Wilkes 

Terrell 

Dodge 

Mitchell.  .  . 


496 
511 
549 

556 
558 

574 
606 
635 
640 
679 

749 
790 
795 
839 
866 

902 
906 
913 

948 
1,007 

1,009 
1,025 
1,055 
1,082 
1,155 

1,178 
1,311 
1,347 
1,360 
1,401 

1,445 
1,486 
1,591 
1,775 
1,839 

2,173 
2,291 
2,308 
2,345 
2,744 

2,755 
3,660 


90 
402 
147 
205 
127 

102 
249 
239 
588 
371 

354 
493 
512 
536 
188 

421 
359 
670 
261 
421 

311 
208 
308 
39 
449 

266 

348 
227 
426 
560 

465 
226 
408 
668 
675 

738 
362 
640 
1,073 
724 

574 

712 


—204 
—189 
—151 
—144 
—142 

—126 
—94 
—65 
—60 
—21 

49 

90 

95 

139 

166 

202 

206 
213 
248 
307 

309 

325 
355 
382 
455 

478 
611 
647 
660 
701 

745 

786 

891 

1,075 

1,139 

1,473 
1,591 
1,608 
1,645 
2,044 

2,055 
2,960 


—210 

102 

—153 

—95 

—173 

—198 
—51 
—61 

288 
71 

54 

193 

212 

236 

—112 

121 

59 

370 

—39 

121 

11 

—92 

8 

—261 

349 

—34 
48 

—73 
126 
260 

165 
—74 
108 
368 
375 

438 
62 
340 
773 
424 

274 
412 


43 
—19 
23 
14 
25 

25 

5 

4 

—17 

— 1 

3 

17 

20 

33 

—19 

24 

12 

79 

—10 

37 

3 

—30 

3 

—100 

159 

—16 
29 

—47 
83 

18 

123 

—58 

96 

396 

427 

645 

99 

36 

1,271 

867 

565 
122 


42 
36 
23 
21 
20 

16 
9 

4 
4 

2 

8 

9 

19 

28 

41 

42 
45 
62 
94 

95 

106 
126 
146 
207 

228 
373 
419 
436 
491 

555 

618 

794 

1,156 

1,297 

2,170 
2,531 
2,586 
2,706 
4,178 

4,223 
8,762 


The  Movements  of  Countrymen 
Table  17— Continued 


in 


COUNTIES 

Incr. 

(y) 

Incr. 
(x) 

Dev. 

(Y) 

Dev. 
(X) 

Prod. 
(XY) 

Sq. 

(Y2) 

Sq. 
(X«) 

Laurens 

4,588 

911 

21,088 

10,878 

2,066 

6,666 

1,251 

217 

3,910 

3,747 

354 

898 

3,888 
—489 
17,588 
6,678 
666 
3,266 

951 
—383 
2,410 
1,947 
—246 
298 

3,697 
94 

8,477 

2,167 

—82 

694 

15,117 
120 

56,856 

7,433 

222 

13,865 

904 

Group  I 

2  Counties 

Group  II 

5  Counties 

Group  III 

6  Counties 

Group  IV. 

2  Counties 

Group  V 

2  Counties 

74 
116 
634 

30 
44 

Totals 

97,186 
971.86 

32,951 
329.51 

27,186 
271.86 

271.86 

2,951 
29.51 

29.51 

25,423 
254,230 

8,020 

156,428 

1,564,280 

73,929 

6,277 
62,770 

860 

Totals  divided  by  i  00 
Difference  between 
guessed  and  true 
averages,  their  prod- 
ucts and  squares,  (a) 

Correct  Total 

246,210 

1,496,351 

61,910 

(a)  Products  and  squares  of  difference  are  used  to  correct  the  product  and 
square  columns  after  dividing  the  totals  by  the  number  of  cases  (100.)  Inas- 
much as  000  is  omitted  from  the  product  and  square  columns,  after  dividing  by 
100,  only  0  is  omitted.  The  proper  correction  is  indicated  in  the  last  line  by 
dividing  the  sums  of  the  products  and  squares  by  100,  i.  e.  by  adding  0  to  the 
totals  which  omit  000,  and  subtracting  the  products  and  squares  of  the  dif- 
ferences between  guessed  and  true  averages.  

onrl  pinning  tVmm   i-mrfcf  fhr  fignrfl  tn   fe  r   mnrrtH' 


For  fuller  explanation  of  Guessed  Average  method,  see  appendix. 

Figures  computed  from  U.  S.  Census,  Negro  Population  in  the  U.  S.  Table 
II  and  73,  Census  of  1900,  Vol.  V  Agriculture,  Table  10. 

The  counties  grouped  at  the  end  of  the  table  make  up  areas  in  which  new 
counties  were  created  between  1900  and  1910,  see  foot  note  page  112.  The 
number  of  counties  indicated  in  each  group  is  the  number  which  composed  the 
area  in  1900.  Their  increases  have  been  added  to  the  population  of  the  new 
counties  created  in  the  area.  In  the  mathematical  operations  this  group  increase 
was  divided  by  the  number  of  counties  in  order  that  each  county  might  be  treated 
as  a  single  case  on  the  same  basis  with  other  counties  in  the  table.  For  instance, 
in  Group  I,  the  group  population  increase  was  911,  of  which  455.5  was  assigned 
arbitrarily  to  each  of  the  two  counties  which  were  in  this  area  in  1900.  Subtract 
the  guessed  average  from  455.5,  i.  e.  455.5 — 700  and  the  result  is  — 244.5,  which 
is  the  deviation  of  the  population  increase  of  each  of  the  two  counties.  Multiply 
this  by  two  and  the  result, — 489,  is  the  deviation  of  the  group  from  the  popula- 
tion average.  Multiply  the  square  of  — 244.5  by  two  and  the  result,  120,254  is 
the  Y  square  for  the  group.  Multiply — 244.5  by — 192.5,  which  is  the  deviation 
of  each  county  from  the  average  increase  in  farms,  and  the  result,  47,066,  when 
multiplied  by  two  gives  94,132,  which  is  the  product  of  the  two  deviations  for  the 
group.  This  process  has  been  followed  with  the  five  counties  in  Group  II,  the 
six  in  Group  III,  the  two  in  Group  IV  and  the  two  in  Group  V,  thus  giving  to 
each  group  a  weight  corresponding  to  the  number  of  counties  which  composed 
it  in  1900. 


ii2  Negro  Migration 

the  Census  figures  on  rural  population  increases  in  the 
county  inexact.3 

The  100  counties  remaining  after  eliminations  were  made 
are  arranged  in  the  order  of  their  increase  in  Negro  popu- 
lation. This  increase  is  shown  in  Column  I.  Column  II 
shows  the  increase  in  farms  operated  by  Negroes  in  each 
county.  The  average  increase  in  Negro  population  and  the 
average  increase  in  independent  Negro  farmers  was  then 
obtained.  By  subtracting  the  average  increase  in  population 
or  farms  from  the  increases  of  each  individual  county  the 
extent  to  which  the  counties  deviate  from  this  average  is 
obtained.  Column  III  shows  these  deviations  of  the  in- 
creases in  population  in  every  county  from  the  average  in- 
crease in  population.  Column  IV  shows  the  deviations  of 
the  increases  in  farms. 

In  this  table,  especially  the  columns  showing  the  devia- 
tions from  the  averages,  the  eye  can  easily  follow  the  rela- 
tionship between  the  two  movements.  If,  in  a  given  county, 
both  the  farm  increase  and  the  population  increase  are  below 
the  average,  then  both  deviations  bear  the  minus  sign.  If 
both  are  above  the  average,  they  bear  the  plus  sign.  In  either 
of  these  cases  a  positive  relation  is  implied.  If,  however,  the 
population  increase,  in  a  county,  is  less  than  the  average  for 

8  The  counties  omitted  were:  Mountain  counties,  with  very 
small  Negro  populations  (see  Legend  Map  II) ;  Clarke  and 
Oglethorpe  counties,  on  account  of  mutual  adjustment  of  boun- 
daries and  suburban  areas;  Bibb,  Fulton,  Richmond,  Chatham, 
Sumpter,  Muscogee,  Elbert,  Cobb,  Dekalb,  Troup,  Colquitt,  Car- 
roll, Newton,  Houston  and  Brooks,  on  account  of  Urban  and 
Suburban  areas  included  as  rural  in  one  census  or  the  other. 
Groups  in  which  new  counties  were  created  between  1900  and 
1910  were  treated  as  follows:  Population  for  all  counties  in 
the  area  was  figured  in  1900  and  1910.  The  increase  of  the 
whole  area  was  treated  as  uniform.  That  is  to  say  it  was 
divided  equally  among  the  counties  which  composed  the  area 
in  1900  and  is  carried  that  way  in  the  table.  These  groups  are 
listed  as  such  at  the  foot  of  the  table. 


The  Movements  of  Countrymen  113 

the  100  rural  counties,  while  the  farm  increase,  in  the  same 
county,  is  more  than  the  average,  then  the  one  deviation  is 
plus  and  the  other  minus  and  a  negative  relationship  is  in- 
dicated. This  degree  of  relationship  between  the  pairs  of 
observations  is  clearer  still  in  the  fifth  column,  which  is  ob- 
tained by  multiplying  the  two  deviations  together.  In  the 
event  that  both  population  and  farm  increase  are  either 
above  or  below  the  average,  the  product  of  the  deviations  is 
a  plus  quantity.  In  the  event,  however,  that  the  deviations 
are  in  opposite  directions  from  their  averages,  as  in  Talbot 
(the  fifth  county  in  the  table),  their  product  is  minus.  In 
the  event  both  deviations  are  large,  the  product  is  of  course 
a  large  quantity,  in  the  event  one  is  large  and  the  other 
small,  the  product  is  a  smaller  quantity,  and  in  the  event 
both  deviations  are  small,  the  product  is  so  small  as  to  be 
relatively  insignificant.  Examination  of  Column  V,  which 
lists  these  products,  reveals  that  there  are  only  sixteen  of  the 
100  counties  for  which  the  deviations  did  not  agree  in  sign, 
and  for  which  the  product  is  a  minus  quantity.  Many  of 
these  are  very  small  products,  and  the  sum  of  all  the  minus 
products  deducted  from  the  sum  of  all  the  plus  products 
leaves  a  very  large  postive  number. 

This,  in  such  a  large  number  of  cases,  is  indicative  of  a 
strong  positive  relationship  between  the  two  observations. 
But  it  may  be  given  a  more  definite  quantitative  value  by 
the  method  of  correlation.  By  this  method  the  relationship 
expressed  in  Table  17  is  reduced  to  a  coefficient  which  can- 
not be  numerically  greater  than  plus  or  minus  1.  The  closer 
the  coefficient  is  to  plus  one,  the  greater  the  degree  of  posi- 
tive relationship  between  the  phenomena  observed.  The 
closer  it  is  to  minus  one  the  greater  the  degree  of  negative 
relationship,  and  the  closer  it  is  to  zero,  the  more  doubtful 
the  relationship. 

In  this  case  the  coefficient  arrived  at  as  indicative  of  the 
relationship  between  increase  in  Negro  population  and  in- 
crease in  independent  Negro  farmers  was  .811.     The  rela- 


ii4  Negro  Migration 


DIAGRAM   II. 

CORRELATIONS  OF  NEGRO  *OT>ULATION  INCREASE,  1900-1910  WITH 
INCREASES  IN  THE  CLASSES  OF  FARM  WORKERS. 


&  U) 


Regression  lines  plotted  from 

the  means  of  the  systems  as 

zero,  in  units  proportional,  to    <®r        <£? 

the  standard  deviations.       j\s  $r 


(2) 


0>" 


t  &*■-; t5) 


'Z. NO 


1< 


tionship  is  therefore  very  close. 

By  comparing  the  coefficient  showing  the  relation  between 
increase  in  population  and  increase  in  farms,  and  that 
between  increase  in  population  and  increase  in  farm  laborers4 
we  see  that  while  the  relationship  between  increase  in 
farmers  and  population  is  very  high,  the  relationship  be- 
tween   increases    in    laborers    and    population    is    almost 

*This  second  correlation  was  worked  out  on  the  basis  of 
census  figures  as  to  increase  in  improved  acreage  by  counties. 
From  this  increase  in  improved  acreage  was  subtracted  the 
amount  of  increase  attributable  to  new  independent  farmers  on 
the  basis  of  25  acres  each.  The  remainder  was  considered  a 
fairly  accurate  index  of  the  increases  or  decreases  in  the  acreage 
operated  by  hired  labor. 


The  Movements  of  Countrymen  115 

negligible.  These  coefficients  are  compared  graphically  in 
Diagram  II. 

The  other  factors  which  might  be  correlated  with  popu- 
lation increase  in  order  to  exhaust  possible  causes  would 
be :  Increase  in  rural  laborers  other  than  farmers.  2.  Social 
causes  such  as  lynching,  injustice  in  the  courts,  jim  crow 
cars,  etc.  As  to  other  rural  laborers,  the  largest  groups 
in  the  State  in  1900  were  comprised  of  the  8,000  turpentine 
laborers,  and  the  approximately  5,000  laborers  in  sawmills 
and  lumber  gangs.  These  numbers  are  insignificant  in  influ- 
encing the  population,  which  contains  122,000  independent 
farmers  and  110,000  farm  laborers  (not  working  on 
home  farm).  As  to  the  social  causes,  such  as 
lynching,  injustices  in  the  courts,  jim  crow  cars.  It  must 
be  said  that  there  is  no  way  of  tracing  a  direct  relation- 
ship of  these  causes  to  the  movement  from  one  rural  dis- 
trict to  another  within  the  South.  They  operate  to  a  larger 
extent  in  the  movement  from  country  to  city.  Inasmuch 
as  lynching  is  sporadic  and  affects  directly  only  a  small 
proportion  of  the  population  over  a  short  period  of  time,  its 
effects  are  difficult  to  determine  unless  by  first  hand  investi- 
gation immediately  after  the  disturbance.  This  is  more 
fully  discussed  in  the  latter  part  of  this  chapter  devoted  to 
the  migration  of  1916-17.  Inasmuch  as  the  attitude  towards 
the  Negro  in  the  courts,  and  in  public  carriers  and  institu- 
tions, is  uniform  throughout  Georgia,  it  cannot  be  counted 
among  the  causes  of  movement  from  one  part  of  the  State 
to  another.  Increase  in  number  of  Negro  farmers,  of  all 
classes,  therefore,  stands  out  as  the  predominating' cause 
for  movement  from  one  rural  district  to  another. 

But  as  noted  in  Part  I,  this  number  of  Negro 
farmers  is  composed  of  three  classes,  share  tenants,  cash 
tenants,  and  owners.  The  third,  fourth,  and  fifth  correla- 
tion coefficients  shown  above  were  worked  out  to  measure 
the  relation  between  the  increase  in  these  three  classes  with 
the  increase  in  population. 


n6  Negro  Migration 

In  interpreting  these  coefficients,  which  are  population 
with  share  tenancy,  .600,  with  cash  tenancy  .499,  with  owner- 
ship .462,  it  is  to  be  remembered  that  these  tenant  classes 
may  increase  in  four  ways  in  a  given  area. 

1.  Through  the  entrance  into  the  class  of  a  man  who  has 
previously  been  living  in  the  area  but  who  was  in  some 
other  class  of  farm  population,  i.  e.,  a  change  in  tenure 
status  without  a  movement. 

2.  Through  the  entrance  into  one  of  the  classes  of  a 
man  from  some  other  county  who  had  either  been  an  agri- 
cultural laborer  or  who  had  not  been  engaged  in  agriculture. 

3.  Through  the  movement  of  men  from  one  county  to 
another  without  a  change  in  their  tenure  status. 

4.  Through  the  movement  of  men  from  one  county  to 
another  in  order  to  effect  the  change  from  one  tenure  class 
to  another. 

The  correlation  coefficients  showing  the  relation  of  tenure 
classes  to  population  are  disturbed  by  the  first  group,  but 
with  allowance  made  for  this  disturbance  they  measure 
factors  2,  3  and  4. 

From  this  it  is  expected  that  share  tenant  increases  will 
exert  the  largest  influence  on  population  increases.  1.  Be- 
cause in  1900  there  were  more  Negroes  in  share  tenancy 
than  in  any  other  class,  and  these  tenants  moved  most  fre- 
quently. Therefore  share  tenants  moving  from  one  county 
to  another  formed  a  considerable  migrant  population. 
Also  share  tenants  increase  more  rapidly  because  change 
from  laborer  to  share  tenant  is  only  nominal  and  requires  no 
capital. 

On  the  other  hand,  cash  tenants  were  less  numerous 
to  begin  with,  they  move  less,  and  there  are  fewer  who 
have  ability  to  enter  this  class.  The  owners  are  still  less 
numerous,  move  still  less,  and  there  are  still  fewer  who  have 
the  ability  to  enter  this  class.  These  conditions  are  reflected 
in  the  regular  descending  order  of  the  correlation  coefficients. 

It  would  be  a  mistake,  therefore,  to  attempt  to  interpret 


The  Movements  of  Countrymen  117 

the  coefficients  as  indices  solely  of  the  relative  desire  of  the 
Negro  to  enter  the  different  tenant  classes,  or  solely  of  the 
ability  to  enter  them.  They  represent  a  measure  of  the 
extent  to  which  this  desire  and  ability  combined,  work 
themselves  out  in  population  movement  across  county  lines. 
To  sum  up  the  relationships  between  increases  in  farmers 
and  the  increases  in  population  between  1900  and  1910,  our 
coefficients  indicate: 

1.  Increases  in  total  number  of  farms  operated  by  Negroes 
are  closely  associated  with  increase  in  Negro  population. 
So  close  is  this  relationship  that  it  stands  out  as  the  prin- 
cipal cause  of  migration  within  the  rural  districts  of  the 
State.  The  superior  farm  opportunities  of  the  Upper  Pied- 
mont and  Wiregrass  have  been  drawing  the  population  away 
from  the  old  Black  Belt  * 

2.  Increases  and  decreases  in  number  of  farm  laborers 
are  almost  unrelated  to  population  movement. 

3.  Owing  to  the  large  proportion  of  farms  which  are 
operated  by  share  tenants  who  move  from  place  to  place 
frequently,  and  to  the  number  of  laborers  who  move  to 
enter  share  tenancy,  the  relationship  between  increases  in 
share  tenants  and  increases  in  population  is  high. 

4.  Owing  to  the  smaller  proportion  of  the  rural  Negroes 
who  were  renters  in  1910,  the  relative  stability  of  this  class, 
and  the  difficulty  of  entering  it,  increases  in  the  renter  class 
have  been  less  closely  related  to  population  movement. 

5.  Owing  to  the  fact  that  the  owner  class  is  the  smallest 
numerically,  the  most  stable,  and  the  most  difficult  to  enter, 
increases  and  decreases  in  ownership  have  had  less  effect 
on  population  movement  than  the  other  two  classes  of 
farmers. 

MIGRATION  DURING  THE  WAR 

During  this  tremendous  shifting  around  of  rural  popula- 
tion from  1870  to  1910  a  few  of  the  migrants  became  per- 
manently detached  from  the  land  and  moved  to  the  cities 


n8  Negro  Migration 

of  Georgia  or  to  States  West  or  North.  The  entrance 
of  the  United  States  into  the  war  and  the  simultaneous  en- 
trance of  the  boll  weevil  into  Georgia  set  at  work  factors 
which  had  previously  been  of  little  relative  importance  and 
the  city-ward  movement  was  increased. 

The  same  currents  in  rural  migration  were,  however, 
noticeable.  The  new  currents  were  superposed  on  them 
and  in  some  cases  they  offset  the  old  currents.  The  results 
of  the  first  hand  investigation  of  migration  during  the 
summer  of  1917,  made  for  the  U.  S.  Department  of  Labor, 
give  a  detailed  picture  of  this  movement.  It  is  interesting 
to  note,  in  connection  with  the  boll  weevil  as  a  cause  of 
migration,  that  this  pest  entered  the  very  section  of  the  State 
which  had  been  gaining  most  heavily  by  migration, 
and  that  the  labor  agents  from  the  North,  who  were 
probably  aware  of  the  disorganization  caused  by  this  pest, 
operated  more  extensively  in  the  rural  districts  of  south- 
west Georgia  than  anywhere  else.  The  following  quotation 
from  the  report  based  upon  personal  interviews  with  Georgia 
planters  in  1917  indicates  the  new  characteristics  of  the 
movement. 

"The  reports  of  plantation  owners  and  farm  demon- 
strators indicate  that  only  about  300  farmers  and  farm 
laborers  have  migrated  from  the  Piedmont  section,  1,200 
from  the  central  Black  Belt,  3,200  to  3,500  from  the  20 
counties  in  the  southwest  Black  Belt  and  Wiregrass  suffer- 
ing heavy  and  moderate  damage  from  the  boll  weevil,  and 
1,200  from  the  Wiregrass  and  Coast  counties,  This  indi- 
cates a  total  of  about  5,200  Negro  farmers  and  farm 
laborers  who  left  the  .State  during  **"*  y^ars  1Q1/;  and  1917." 

"Their  replies  indicated  that  the  line  of  heavy  movement 
corresponded  closely  to  the  line  of  heavy  damage  by  the 
weevil  The  ho11  wppvjI  rannot,  however,  be  taken  as  the 
onlvxause  of  the  movement  in  this  section.  In  this  sec- 
tion three  of  the  worst  lynchings  ever  seen  in  Georgia 
occurred  during  1915  and  1916.    The  planters  in  the  imme- 


The  Movements  of  Countrymen  119 

diate  vicinity  of  these  lynchings  attributed  the  movement 
from  their  places  to  the  fact  that  the  lynching  parties  had 
terrorized  their  Negroes.  Some  of  the  counties  remote  from 
the  lynchings,  however,  showed  as  heavy  a  movement  as 
the  counties  where  the  lynching  took  place.  On  the  whole, 
the  weevil,  together  with  the  simultaneous  offers  of  high 
wages,  seemed  to  be  the  main  determining  factor  in  the 
movement  from  southwest  Georgia.  Z.  R.  Pettet,  the  State 
crop  estimator,  says  in  his  annual  report  for  1916:  "The 
Negro  exodus  has  been  greatest  in  the  territory  that  has  been 
infested  [with  the  weevil]  long  enough  to  make  it  difficult 
to  grow  a  paying  crop  of  cotton.  The  reported  acute  labor- 
shortage  line  coincides  closely  with  the  line  of  third-year 
infestation,  except  along  the  southern  State  line."  It 
appears  from  this  study  •  that  the  planters  inter- 
viewed in  the  heavily  damaged  counties  sustained  a  loss 
of  13  per  cent  of  their  plow  hands,  and  those  in  the  counties 
with  moderate  damage  sustained  a  loss  of  9  per  cent. 
These  percentages  are  slightly  higher  than  the  percentage  of 
loss  in  the  areas  as  a  whole,  for  the  reason  that  points  of 
heavy  movement  were  selected  for  study.  The  loss  for  all 
10  heavily  damaged  weevil  counties  would  probably  be  close 
to  10  per  cent  and  for  the  10  moderately  damaged  counties 
about  6  per  cent.  The  rural  districts  of  the  Wiregrass 
showed  slightly  less  disturbance  in  their  farming  population 
and  the  Central  Black  Belt  and  Upper  Piedmont  were  prac- 
tically undisturbed. 

The  foregoing  percentages  are  based  upon  figures  obtained 
from  plantation  owners.  These  owners,  living  in  the  county 
towns,  usually  supervise  their  plantations  closely  or  provide  a 
competent  overseer.  The  majority  of  Negroes  on  their  places 
are,  therefore,  wage  hands  or  share  croppers;  a  few  rent 
land  from  the  planter.  These  are  supervised  almost  as  close- 
ly as  the  wage  hands  and  share  croppers.  Of  the  '4,831  plows 
operated  by  planters  interviewed  in  the  boll-weevil  section, 


120  Negro  Migration 

1,722  were  operated  by  wage  hands,  2,334  by  share  croppers, 
and  775  by  renters.  That  is  to  say,  36  per  cent  of  the  Negro 
plow  hands  on  these  places  were  working  for  wages,  48 
for  a  share  of  the  crop,  and  only  16  paid  a  fixed  rental. 
This  indicates  that  the  area  infested  by  the  weevil  happened 
to  coincide  with  the  areas  where  the  ojd  jpjantation  system 
is  most  firmly  established.  As  a  consequence  the  great 
majority  of  the  Negroes  leaving  were  wage  hands  and 
share  croppers.  Of  the  534  leaving  the  boll-weevil  section 
only  20  or  30  were  renters.  Two  classes  of  Negro  farmers 
were  not  reached  by  this  inquiry  among  plantation  owners. 
They  were  ( 1 )  independent  renters  on  the  land  of  absentee 
landlords,  and  (2)  negro  landowners.  Only  a  scattering 
number  of  these  were  reported  by  farm  demonstrators  and 
local  merchants  as  having  left ;  but  while  these  higher  types 
of  the  Negro  farmer  constitute  only  a  small  part  of  the 
total  movement,  the  few  who  have  left  are  noteworthy  for 
the  reason  that  they  point  to  causes  other  than  economic  for 
their  movement.  The  new  tendencies  to  move  from  South 
Georgia,  therefore,  at  least  for  two  or  three  years  have 
more  than  offset  the  old  tendency  to  move  into  this  land  of 
previous  agricultural  opportunity.  It  is  interesting  to  note, 
however,  that  in  the  movement  from  South  Georgia  again 
the  share  tenant  and  the  labor  classes  contributed  the  over- 
whelming majority  of  the  migrants.  The  renters  and  owners 
held  on  and  constituted  the  stable  class. 

Thus  the  moYenien^of  1916-17  bears  all  the  earmarks  of 
the  earlier  movement  of  freedmen.  Discontent  with  the  old 
plantation  svstenTwhich  still  prevailson  some  of  the  South- 
ern farms  was  intensified  by  low  wages  in  1914  and  1915,  and 
the  appearance  of  the  bo^  wfrfvi1  *"  *hp  smith  western 
corner  of  the  State.     Higher  wages  were  offered  in  the 

northern    rities   apd   artjfipal    stimjilation    wa^s   provided   by 

the,  labor  a^er^  representing  northern  industry.  The  begin- 
nings  of  the  movement  mayT  therefore,  be  characterized  as 
an  intensification  of  the  shift  of  Negro  population  which 


The  Movements  of  Countrymen  121 

has  been  taking  place  for  the  past  50  years,  but  which  was 
accelerated  by  the  boll  weevil  and  abnormal  conditions  of 
northern  industry. 

Skuce  the  movement  started,  however,  it  has  induced  a 
great  amount  of  discussion  among  the  Negroes .  themselves. 
This  discussion  has  emphasized  the  social  grievances  of 
Negroes  in  the  South,  and  since  a  distinct  public  opinion 
has  been  created,  even  among  the  masses  of  Negroes,  the 
social  causes  have  been  playing  a  part  in  the  migration. 

They  are,  briefly:    Injustice  in  the  courts,  lynching,  de- 
nial  of  suffrage,  discrimination  in  public  conveyances,  and 
inequalities  in  educational  advantages.     These  are  causes     -  \ 
which  may  be  expected  to  become  more  and  more  influ-      > 
ential  in  the  future. 


CHAPTER  III. 
CITY  AND  INTER-STATE  MIGRATION 

The  thousands  of  Negroes  who  have  moved  from  Black 
Belt  districts  into  other  rural  areas  have  constituted  the 
great  tide  of  migration.  In  the  shift,  however,  a  certain 
number  have  become  detached  from  the  land  and  have  moved 
to  nearby  towns.  Some  have  wandered  still  further  into 
Northern  cities.  The  very  rapid  rate  of  increase  in  urban 
areas  indicates  that  the  Negro  population  of  towns  and  large 
cities  is  constantly  receiving  additions  from  the  rural  areas. 
It  was  noted  in  Chapter  I,  of  this  part,  that  the  increase, 
between  1900  and  1910,  of  63,765  Negroes  in  the  towns  of 
over  2,500  in  Georgia  was  numerically  less  than  the  increase 
of  78,409  Negroes  in  rural  districts,  but  on  a  percentage  basis 
this  means  a  rate  of  increase  of  39.6  per  cent  in  cities  as 
against  9  per  cent  in  rural  districts. 

Part  of  this  rapid  rate  of  increase  in  urban  population 
was  due  to  the  extension  of  city  boundaries  between  1900 
and  1910  to  include  new  areas,  part  to  the  14  places  which 
were  smaller  than  2,500  in  1900  but  larger  than  2,500  in 
1910,  and  part  to  the  natural  increase  by  births  over  deaths. 
But  fully  25,000  of  the  increase  is  attributable  to  migration 
from  country  town.  Excluding  the  tov/ns  added  to  the 
urban  area  between  1900  and  1910  because  of  their  growth, 
and  noting  the  increase  only  in  towns  which  were  considered 
urban  in  1900,  the  growth  shown  is  46,00a1 

Making  due  allowance  for  extension  of  corporate  limits 
in  these  towns  the  following  is  a  very  close  approximation 
of  their  true  increase  by  migration : 

Negro  Population 

Towns  of  2,500  in  1900 161,061 

Estimate  same  area  1910 203,061 

Increase   1900-1910 42,000 

Per  Cent  Increase  1900-1910 26.0 

iU.  S.  Bureau  of  the  Census.  Negro  Population,  1790-1915, 
p.  96. 


City  and  Inter-State  Migration  123 

If  these  towns  were  increasing  by  excess  of  births  over 
deaths  at  the  rate  of  15  per  cent,  this  leaves  them  a  gain 
by  migration  of  some  18,000  colored  people.  Inasmuch 
as  Georgia  as  a  whole  lost  18,5002  Negroes  to  other  States,  . 
of  whom  fully  7,000  were  migrants  from  Georgia  towns  4^ 
the  total  number  of  Georgia  country  Negroes  who  moved 
intn  f>nrfnfl  frowns  during  the  decade  must  have  been  about 
3^}(Dp  0f  whom  7.000  took  the  places  of  the  emigrants  and 
18.000  accounted  for  the  increase  over  above  that  which 
would  have  been  expected  on  the  basis  of  a  15  per  cent  ex- 
cess of  births  over  deaths. 

INCREASES  IN   SMALL  TOWNS 

Villages. — The  first  move  of  a  Negro  from  the  open 
country  is  usually  to  a  village  Of  small  T6WTT~  Extended  ob- 
servation ot  the  movement  indicates  that  very  few  move 
directly  from  the  open  country  to  a  large  city.  The  process 
is  thus  a  series  of  steps  whereby  the  efficient  members  of 
the  rural  population  are  taken  by  the  small  town,  and  the 
ejSjcient  members  of  the  small  town  population  are  in  turn 
taken  by  the  city.  This  greatly  emphasizes  tne  strategic 
importance  of  the  small  town. 

The  rural  organizatiOn^oT  the  ante-bellum  Black  Belt 
did  not  embrace  a  unit  comparable  to  the  New  England  or 
Middle  Western  village  which  is  merely  an  accumulation, 
in  a  convenient  place,  of  the  local  administrative,  mercan- 
tile, and  professional  servants  of  the  surrounding  rural  area. 
In  the  ante-bellum  South,  even  in  the  Upper  Piedmont 
section,  where  a  sprinkling  of  small  farmers  were  located, 
plantations  checked  the  growth  of  numerous  small  centers 
of  non-farming  rural  population.  The  baronial  estate  ab- 
sorbed the  functions  of  the  village  to  such  an  extent  that 
frequently  only  one  such  settlement  was  developed  in  each 
county.  This  was  the  county  seat,  with  its  local  adminis- 
trative and  judicial  officers,  a  few  merchants  and  profes- 

*U.  S.  Census,  1910,  Negro  Population,  1790-1915,  p.  71. 


124  Negro  Migration 

sional  men.  The  large  planters  absorbed  much  of  the  retail 
mercantile  function  and  did  their  wholesale  buying  in  the 
scattered  towns.  Social  life  centered  around  the  "big 
house"  and  the  "quarters"  of  the  plantation  rather  than 
around  the  county  seats. 

An  almost  immediate  effect  of  the  disintegration  of  the 
plantations  was  the  development  of  villages.  A  number  of 
these  have  grown  into  small  towns  and  all  of  the  widely 
scattered  towns  of  1865  have  now  grown  to  be  cities.  By 
1880  there  were  170 3  of  these  villages,  and  in  the  next  30 
years  they  showed  a  remarkable  increase.  They  not  only 
trebled  in  number  but  also  increased  in  size. 

Number  of  Villages  in  Georgia,  1880  and  1910 

According  to  Size  of  Village 

Total  Population                     Number  of  Number  of 

of  Village                            Villages,  1880  Villages,  1910 

Less  than  500 104  344 

500  to  1,000   33  98 

1,000  to  1,500 11  38 

1,500  to  2,000 7  20 

2,000  to  2,500 5  16 

Size  not  enumerated 10 

Total    170  516 

The  table  above  indicates  a  rapid  increase  in  the  number 
of  villages  of  all  sizes.  This  very  significant  growth  came 
about  as  a  by-product  of  the  increase  of  the  population  of 
the  surrounding  country  and  the  areas  of  increase  have  been 
largely  dependent  on  the  movement  of  the  rural  popu- 
lation. This  is  indicated  by  Table  14,  whlclf  showed 
that  in  counties  decreasing  by  migration  only  12.5  per  cent 
of  the  population  lives  in  villages ;  in  the  counties  increasing 

8  These  figures  as  to  increase  in  number  of  villages  are  taken 
from  an  actual  count  of  villages  shown  in  the  table  of  popu- 
lation of  Georgia  by  minor  civil  divisions,  Census  of  1890,  Vol.  I, 
Population,  Census  of  1910,  Vol.  II,  Population.  White  and 
colored  populations  of  these  villages  are  not  separately  shown. 
They  are  the  smallest  subdivisions  of  a  minor  civil  division 
tabulated  by  the  census. 


City  and  Inter-State  Migration  125 

slowly  17.1  per  cent  live  in  villages;  and  in  the  rapidly 
increasing  section  19.1  per  cent  live  in  villages. 

This  is  to  be  expected  from  the  nature  of  the  factors 
underlying  the  rural  population  movement.  With  static 
agricultural  conditions  and  continued  concentration  of  land- 
ownership  in  the  hands  of  a  few,  the  growth  of  the  small 
centers  of  population  is  naturally  stunted.  On  the  other 
hand,  in  actively  progressive  agricultural  areas,  with  an  in- 
creasing number  of  prosperous  independent  farmers  and 
families  attached  to  the  land,  the  growth  of  the  village  and 
small  town  as  the  center  of  community  life  is  naturally 
stimulated. 

Towns  Under  25,000. — The  Census  enumerates  as  Urban 
all  towns  of  2,500  and  over  in  population.  Many  of  the  towns 
which  were  mere  clusters  of  houses  around  a  cross-road  in 
1860  are  now  in  this  class.  A  striking  example  is  States- 
boro,  Georgia,  which  was  incorporated  with  less  than  50 
inhabitants  between  1880  and  1890.  It  had  grown,  by  1910, 
to  be  a  town  of  2,529  inhabitants.  Fourteen  such  new  towns 
were  included  in  the  Urban  area  of  1910.  These  are  indi- 
cated by  an  X  on  Map  III. 

ffie  growth  of  these  small  towns  is  largely  dependent 
upon  the  agricultural  conditions  of  thfl  g^rrnnnHinor  rural 
areas.  This  is  graphically  illustrated  by  comparing  Map  III 
with  Map  II.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  increase  in  towns 
under  10,000  corresponds  rather  closely  to  the  increase 
in  the  surrounding  rural  areas.  The  towns  with  the  slow 
rates  of  increase  are  mostly  in  the  Black  Belt.  The  rapidly 
increasing  towns  are,  for  the  most  part,  in  the  Upper  Pied- 
mont and  Wiregrass. 

The  farming  area  immediately  surrounding  the  small 
town,  however,  loses  Negro  population  by  the  growth  of  the 
town.  The  Urban  counties  (those  on  Map  III  containing  a 
circle)  actually  lost  11,537  in  Negro  population  between 
1900  and  1910,  whereas  on  the  basis  of  excess  of  births  over 
deaths  in  their  population  one  would  have  expected  an  in- 


126 


Negro  Migration 


UIP   III. 

GEORGIA 

Percentage  of   Increase  of  Negroes   in  Cities •  1900-1910. 


^7 


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Size  of  Circle  indicates  Size  of 
City.  Percentage  Inoreaee  indi- 
cated as  follows: 

^j    Under  SO  Peroent 

@  20  to  40  Peroent 

40  to  60  Peroent 

60  Peroent  and  Over. 


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City  and  Inter-State  Migration  127 

crease  of  at  least  27,844.4  Some  3,800  of  this  loss  was  due 
to  encroachment  of  town  limits  on  rural  area,  but  this 
leaves  a  discrepancy  of  about  34,500  to  be  accounted  for 
by  the  movement  from  the  urban  counties. 

The  extent  to  which  one  of  these  small  towns  draws  on 
its  surrounding  rural  areas  for  Negro  population  is  further 
illustrated  by  the  following  table  compiled  from  a  first 
hand  investigation  made  by  the  writer  in  1913  covering 
about  75  per  cent  of  the  population  of  a  town.5 

Birthplace  of  Heads  of  Negro  Families. 

Athens  &  Clarke  County 635        Jackson 31 

Oconee    77       Morgan 20 

Oglethorpe    55        Franklin   16 

Wilkes 51        Madison    14 

Greene 46        Distant  Counties 200 

Elbert    34  

Total    1,179 

Thus  54  per  cent  of  the  heads  of  families  in  Athens  were 
born  in  the  town  or  in  Clarke  County.  Twenty-nine  per 
cent  were  born  in  the  counties  which  cluster  around  Clarke 
and  17  per  cent  in  more  distant  counties. 

This  condition  further  reflects  itself  in  the  fact  that  in 
towns  whose  activities  are  predominantly  for  the  surround- 
ing rural  area  the  proportion  of  Negroes  in  the  total  popu- 
lation tends  to  vary  with  the  proportion  in  the  surrounding 
rural  areas.  White  people  form  a  higher  proportion  of  the 
population  in  all  towns  than  they  form  in  the  surround- 
ing rural  areas,  but  the  variations  in  this  proportion  depend 
on  the  variations  in  the  surrounding  rural  areas.  For  in- 
stance, of  the  towns  under  10,000  in  population  in  Georgia, 
those  located  in  very  black  counties — Albany,  Americus, 
Bainbridge,  Cordele,  Cuthbert,  Dawson,  Fort  Valley,  Mil- 
ledgeville,  Sandersville,  Thomasville,  Valdosta,  Washington 
and  Waynesboro,  have  marked  Negro  majorities.  The 
towns     of     Barnesville,     Covington,     Griffin,     LaGrange 

*See  Table  16. 

5  The  Negroes  of  Athens,  Ga.,  p.  7. 


128  Negro  Migration 

and  Newnan,  though  located  in  counties  slightly  over  50 
per  cent  Negro,  have  a  Negro  population  of  from  35  to  SO 
per  cent  of  their  total  population.  In  these  towns  manu- 
facturing and  educational  enterprises  have  tended  to  change 
the  proportion  of  white  people  in  the  population.  The  towns 
of  the  Piedmont  and  Wiregrass  sections, — Carrollton,  Car- 
tersville,  Cedertown,  Dublin,  Douglas,  East  Point,  Elberton, 
Fitzgerald,  Gainesville,  Marietta,  Monroe,  Quitman,  States- 
boro,  Summerville,  and  Toccoa,  all  have  marked  white 
majorities.  With  the  exception  of  Savannah  and  Brunswick 
the  larger  towns,  with  relatively  more  opportunity  for  white 
men,  have  white  majorities. 

In  other  words,  just  at  the  point  where  manufacturing 
and  mercantile  enterprise  comes  in  and  gives  the  town  other 
activities  than  those  of  serving  the  surrounding  rural  areas, 
the  white  element  in  the  population  begins  to  increase  much 
more  rapidly  than  the  colored  element  and  the  relative  num- 
ber of  Negroes  to  whites  does  not  reflect  so  nearly  the 
proportions  in  the  surrounding  rural  areas.  The  reasons 
for  this  condition  can  be  best  illustrated  by  the  following 
table  of  the  occupations  of  the  Negroes  of  Athens,  from  the 
study  cited  above  (page  39)  : 

Distribution  of  Negroes  Gainfully  Employed 

Per  Cent 

Occupation  Groups                                           Number  of  Total 

Professions  and  Business 108  5. 

Clerical  Work   18  1. 

Skilled  Trades  181  8. 

Domestic  Service  (including  Laundress) 1,102  51. 

Unskilled  Labor  764  35. 

2,173  100. 

Athens  had  a  white  population  of  8,597  and  a  colored 
population  of  6,316,  because  the  State  University  and  a 
number  of  wholesale  firms  and  factories  attract  a  white  popu- 
lation. Albany,  on  the  other  hand,  had  a  white  population 
of  3,378  and  a  Negro  population  of  4,812  because  the  pro- 
portionate need  for  domestic  servants  and  common  laborers 


City  and  Inter-State  Migration  129 

is  relatively  the  same  in  towns  of  all  sizes,  while,  in  towns 
such  as  Albany,  which  are  surrounded  by  large  Negro  popu- 
lations there  are  relatively  more  colored  men  in  the  building 
trades  and  on  odd  jobs  such  as  drivers  and  porters.  There 
is  also  additional  opportunity  in  these  towns  surrounded  by 
large  Negro  majorities  for  Negro  merchants  and  profes- 
sional men.  In  Upper  Piedmont  towns,  such  as  Gaines- 
ville, surrounded  by  a  majority  white  population,  the  odd 
jobs  and  skilled  trades  are  occupied  to  a  greater  extent  by 
white  people  and  there  are  relatively  fewer  opportunities 
for  Negro  merchants  and  professional  men. 

As  the  small  town  or  village  is  the  first  stopping  place 
for  many  rural  Negroes  who  eventually  find  their  way  into 
the  larger  towns  and  cities,  the  soundness  of  the  small  town 
institutions  is  of  strategic  influence  in  their  training  for 
city  life.  As  tne  Negroes  in  the  small  towns  are  the  inter- 
medianes  through  which  ideas  and  institutions  from  the 
pity  rea.cn  {he  large  rural  populating  they  are  in  a  position 
to  exert  an  influence  on  the  surrounding  rural  groups  all  out 
of  proportion  to  their  number.  This,  intermediary  function 
is  theirs : 

1.  Because  the  activities  and  institutions  of  Negroes  in 
small  towns  are  based  on  the  surrounding  rural  areas  and, 
a  wisely  governed  town  adds  to  its  own  prosperity  by  stim- 
ulating the  general  prosperity  of  the  surrounding  rural  areas. 

2.  Because  colored  people  in  small  towns  are  in  closer 
contact  with  the  local  white  leaders  and  are,  therefore,  in  a 
strategic  position  in  race  relations. 

3.  Because  the  ideas,  ideals,  and  institutional  models, 
which  for  the  most  part,  radiate  from  large  centers,  are 
transmitted  to  the  rural  Negro  through  the  medium  of  the 
small  town  or  village. 

I        4.  Because,  as  a  more  compact  and  highly  organized 
population  group,  towns  are  able  to  accomplish  co-operative 
/    and  institutional  enterprises  which  are  out  of  the  reach  of 
/ the  scattered,  unorganized  rural  communities. 


130  Negro  Migration 

This  ability  of  the  village  to  serve  the  surrounding  rural 
areas  better  than  they  could  possibly  serve  themselves  is 
clearly  indicated  by  the  development  of  two  types  of  schools. 

(a)  Negro  Baptist  Association  Schools. — Throughout  the 
South  the  Negro  Baptists  are  organized  into  associations 
which  embrace  several  counties.  Many  of  the  associations 
operate  schools.  Most  of  these  are  small  elementary  schools 
with  a  few  high  school  pupils  and  rooms  for  boarders  from 
outlying  sections  of  the  association.  Though  they  draw 
many  of  their  pupils  from  the  country  and  send  many 
graduates  to  teach  and  preach  in  surrounding  rmc?l  schools 
and  churches,  they  are  almost  invariably  located  on  the  edge 
of  the  largest  town  or  village  in  the  association.  The  few 
that  are  in  the  open  country,  as  a  rule  do  not  prosper  with- 
out outside  aid,  because  they  are  not  located  in  a  place 
central  enough  to  hold  the  maximum  interest  of  all  the  mem- 
bers of  the  association ;  because  they  lose  the  interest  of  the 
most  influential  members,  who  live  in  town ;  because  country 
boys  would  much  prefer  going  to  town  to  school;  and  be- 
cause, being  out  of  the  current  of  ideas  which  flows  froYu 
city  to  small  town,  they  are  more  likely  to  be  unprogres- 
sive. 

(b)  County  Teacher  Training  Schools. — Another  striking 
illustration  of  the  superior  ability  of  the  small  town  to 
develop  institutions  is  in  the  County  Teacher  Training  School 
movement.  The  Negro  rural  schools  are  hampered  by 
poorly-paid,  under-trained  teachers.  The  low  salary  makes 
it  imperative  to  fill  the  schools  with  local  talent.  This  means 
that  year  after  year,  many  rural  schools  are  taught  by  young 
girls  who  have  had  no  training  beyond  that  given  in  the 
school  in  which  they  teach.  In  many  cases  this  is  not 
even  a  full  grammar  school  education.  To  meet  this  need 
the  Slater  Fund  desired  to  stimulate  the  growth  of  local 
institutions  which  could  take  local  pupils  and  give  them 
greater  advantages  than  were  offered  by  the  one  room  rural 


City  and  Inter-State  Migration  131 

schools.  The  central  idea  was  to  develop  some  one  of  the 
rural  schools  to  a  point  where  it  could  offer  high  school 
courses,  limited  teacher  training,  industrial  and  agricultural 
work  which  would  cultivate  an  appreciation  of  rural  values. 
A  small  boarding  department  was  planned  in  order  to  give 
the  schools  a  wider  clientele. 

Except  where  these  schools  were  begun  in  connection  with 
some  private  institution,  previously  established,  they  have, 
almost  without  exception,  gravitated  to  villages,  thereby 
gaining  the  advantage,  both  of  rural  surroundings  and  of  the 
use  of  some  public  school  which  already  had  a  better 
building  and  teaching  staff  than  the  one  room  schools  of  the 
open  country.  The  village  patrons  together  with  the  patrons 
in  surrounding  rural  districts  raise  more  money  for  addi- 
tional equipment  and  teachers  than  any  one  rural  district 
could  raise. 

Constructive  workers  in  the  race  and  other  social  prob- 
lems are  too  likely  to  neglect  these  extreme  small  towns  of 
strategic  importance  for  the  more  evident  problems  of  the 
large  city  or  the  open  country.  It  is  apparent,  however, 
especially  in  view  of  the  rate  at  which  rural  Negroes  sift 
through  these  places,  that  constructive  programs  would  do 
well  to  take  into  account  the  possibilities  of  work  in  villages 
and  small  towns.  By  so  doing  they  react  on  the  city  prob- 
lems through  the  migrants  from  the  small  towns  and  on  the 
rural  problems  through  the  influence  of  the  small  town 
leaders  and  institutions  on  the  rural  population.  The  develop- 
ment of  the  automobile  is  giving  even  greater  influence  to  the 
small  towns. 

LARGE   CITIES 

Before  1910  there  was  very  little  migration  of  Negroes 
from  the  Cotton  States  to  JNofthern  cities.  There  has  been, 
howevert  considerable  urban  development  within  the  South. 

In  Georgia,  the  four  cities  with  a  total  population  of  over 
25,000  are:  Atlanta,  with  154,839;  Savannah,  with  65,064; 


132  Negro  Migration 

Augusta,  with  41,040,  and  Macon,  with  40,665.  All  of  these 
places  except  Augusta  are  increasing  in  Negro  population 
at  a  fairly  rapid  rate.  But  they  show  a  larger  and  larger 
proportion  of  white  residents  in  each  successive  census.  All 
have  grown  to  their  present  size  from  small  towns  since  the 
Civil  War. 

While  the  continued  growth  in  size  and  complexity  of 
activity  of  these  places  offers  a  wider  and  wider  range  of 
opportunity  to  white  mill  workers,  clerical  workers  and 
business  men  the  only  added  attraction  for  Negroes  in  the 
large  city,  other  than  the  proportionate  increase  in  domestic 
service  and  common  labor  opportunities,  is  in  the  concen- 
tration, of  purely  Negro  activities  such  as  banks,  large 
schools,  church  and  lodge  headquarters,  and  newspapers. 

The  influence  of  domestic  service  opportunity  is  indicated 
by' the  great  predominance  of  voung  females  in  the  city 
Negropopulations.  In  lJie_£nuth.  Atlantic-  -States  there  were 
in  19T0only  862^  males  per  1,000  jeirt?lp<;  in  cities  of  25,000 
to^lUqUUU.  "TiTcities  e*  im,000  ar^  ™,»r  .+w#>  were  only 
835  males  per  1,000  females.  In  Atlanta  there  were  only 
810  males  per  1,000  females,'  an  excess  oQ,464  females  in 
the  Negro  population.  Of  this  excess.  3.562  was  in. the  15  to 
30  year  age  group.® 

INTER-STATE    MIGRATION. 

One  group  of  inter-state  migrants  may  be  classed  as 
city  migrants.  These  are  the  Negroes  who  move  North. 
They  are  attracted  almost  entirely  by  Urban  opportunity. 
This  #roup  was  o£j^Jiyj£l¥JitlkJmportance  before  1910. 
The  other  group  of  inter-state  migrants  is  made  up  of  those 
who  move  a  short  distance  from  one  rural  area  to  another 
across  Stafelines,  or  from  one  town  to  another  jadihin  the 
South.  This  group,  before  1910,  included  the  large  ma- 
jority of  the  inter-state  migrants  in  the  Cotton  Belt.   Inas- 

«  Negro  Population,  1790-1915,  opp.  cite,  pp.  154-201. 


City  and  Inter-State  Migration  133 

much  as  the  former  move  is  Northward  and  the  latter  mainly 
Westward  into  the  Gulf  Coast- Wiregrass  strip  of  territory, 
the  general  trend  of  the  movement  of  Negro  population  may 
be  said  to  be  Northward  and  Westward. 

In  the  United  States,  in  1910,  the  Negroes  reported  their 
State  of  Birth  as  follows : 7 

TABLE  18. 
Residence  of  Negroes  Born  in  the  South 

Per  Cent  of 
Number  Born     Negroes  Born 
Residing  in  in  the  South        in  the  South 

The  United  States— 

1910   9,109,153  100.0 

1900   8,216,458  100.0 

Increase   892,695  

The  South— 

1910   8,668,619  95.2 

1900  7,866,807  95.7 

Increase   801,812  

The  North  and  West— 

1910  440,534  4.9 

1900   349,651  4.4 

Increase   90,883  

That  is  to  say  that,  in  1900,  349,651  Southern  born  Ne- 
groes were  living  in  the  North  and  West,  but  this  number 
represented  only  4.4  per  cent  of  all  Southern  born  Negroes. 
The  number  of  Southern  born  Negroes  in  the  country  in- 
creased almost  900,000  between  1900  and  1910,  but  the  num- 
ber of  Southern  born  Negroes  living  in  the  North  increased 
only  about  91,000.  This  means  that  for  each  southern-born 
increase  the  migrant  group.  But  this  number  was  hardly 
sufficient  to  materially  alter  the  proportion  of  southern- 
born  Negroes  living  in  the  North,  because  in  1900  only  4.5 
per  cent  of  all  southern-born  Negroes  lived  in  the  North, 
and  by  1910  this  proportion  had  increased  very  slightly  to 
4.9  per  cent. 

Among  Georgia-born  Negroes  the  inter-state  migration 
before  1910  is  indicated  as  follows : 8 

7  Negro  Population,  1790-1915,  pp.  66-67. 

8  Negro  Population  in  the  U.  S.,  1790-1915,  p.  81.  Census  of 
1900,  Population,  p.   702. 


134  Negro  Migration 

TABLE  19. 
Residence  of  Negroes  Born  in  Georgia. 

Number  Number  Increase  Per  cent 

in  1910  in  1900  1900-1910  Increase 

Total  born  in  Georgia.   1,248,352  1,090,336  158,016          14.5 

Living  in  Georgia...   1,097,257  958,245  139,012          14.5 

"     in  other  States     151,095  132,091  19,004         14.4 

"      "Florida....       45,699  27,744  17,955         64.7 

"      "Alabama...       31,202  31,106  96             .3 

"      "Tennessee..        13,075  11,250  1,825         16.3 

"      "Arkansas..        10,013  11,495  —1,482      —13.1 

"      "  other  South- 

"      "      em  States       28,313  38,022  —9,709      —25.3 

Total  So.  States 128,302  1 19,617  8,685           7.4 

Living  in  N.  Y 3,792  1,925  1,867  97.0 

"  Illinois   . . .  2,874  1,674  1,200  71.7 

"  N.  J 1,578  490  1,088  222.4 

All  other 14,549  8,385  6,164  71.0 

Total    Non-Southern 

States  22,793  12,474  10,319  82.7 

This  indicates  that  in  1900  there  were  132,091  Georgia 
born  Negroes  who  had  migrated  to  other  States.  Of  these, 
however,  only  12,474  lived  in  Northern  and  Western  States 
and  119,617  in  Southern  States,  i.  e.,  only  1.1  per  cent  of  the 
total  Georgia-born  Negroes  had  moved  outside  the  South, 
and  10.9  per  cent  had  moved  to  other  States  in  the  South. 
By  1910  the  number  of  Georgia-born  migrants  outside  of  the 
South  had  increased  to  22,793,  an  increase  of  10,300.  As- 
suming that  the  death  rate  of  Georgia-born  in  the  North  was 
about  25  per  thousand,  per  year,  this  means  that  some  13,000 
Georgia-born  Negroes  moved  North  during  the  decade. 
This  is  less  than  1.3  per  cent  of  the  Georgia  Negroes  in 
1900. 

Although  the  North  wnrd  moypm°nt  has  been  gaining 
headway,  it  appears  that  the  important  shift  before  1910 
wa_s  to  other  Southern  States.  The  earlier  migrations  from 
Georgia  were  Southward  intoJTlorida  and  the  Wiregrass 
lands  ot  Alabama,  and  Westward  into  M^issippi,  Louisi- 
ana, Texas  and  Arkansas.  The  Census  of  1890  showed 
12,993  Georgia-born  Negroes  in  Mississippi,  11,736  in  Texas, 


City  and  Inter-State  Migration  135 

and  5,445  in  Iyouisiana.  By  1900  most  of  these  had  died 
and  no  more  had  moved  in  to  take  their  place  and  in  the 
table  above  these  States  are  included  in  the  38,022  Georgia- 
born  Negroes  in  other  Southern  States.  It  will  be  seen 
that  there  was  a  rapid  increase  in  the  movement  to  Florida 
between  1900  and  1910,  just  enough  movement  to  Alabama 
to  barely  maintain  the  Georgia-born  population,  a  slight 
movement  to  Tennessee  and  very  slight  movement  to  other 
Southern  States,  the  Georgia-born  Negroes  in  these  States 
decreasing  11,091  either  through  deaths  or  further  move- 
ment. 

Between  1916  and  1917  the  Western  areas  and  parts 
of  Northern  Florida  were  disturbed  by  the  boll  weevil 
and  floods.  The  boll  weevil  also  entered  Georgia  and 
accelerated  the  movement  from  the  State.  The  westward 
stream  of  migration  was  blocked  by  adverse  conditions  and 
this  movement  had,  perforce,  to  turn  northward.  Thus  at 
first  it  was  not  so  much  a  change  in  the  essential  character 
of  the  forces  as  a  change  in  their  area  of  incidence  and  their 
intensity  which  caused  the  movement  to  change  in  direc- 
tion. Since  the  northern  opportunity  was  predominantly 
urban  this  was  an  urban  movement. 

CLASSES  MIGRATING 

Truthe  first  hand  study  of  the  migration  of  1916-17  made 
for  the  Department  of  Labor,  the  writer9  estimated  that 

Whereas  about  6T000  Negro  farmers  anH  farm  laborers  had 

moved  North  during  the  two  years,  there  were  from  5,000  to 
JLQQO  laborers  who  moved  from  cities  and  towns  in  Georgia. 
The  following  extracts  from  the  report  made  on  the  situa- 
tion at  the  time  indicate  the  character  of  this  movement : 

"The  towns  Iprated  in  ibfl  rA^nnc  where  the  farmers 
were  disturbed  have,  nf  ™^rse.  suffered  a  greater  loss  than 
the  towns  of  the  Piedmont  and  tho  Black  Belt.  Skilled 
iof.r>™>rc  AcpA^ioiiy  ko^A  bfAr>  ^rown  from  all  towns  ^Because 

9  See  Footnote  1,  Chapter  II.  The  facts  are  as  of  the  summer 
of  1917. 


136  Negro  Migration 

wages  of  skilled  labor  run  proportionately  higher  in  the 
North  than  in  the  South.  The  mass  of  Mfigro  day,  laborers 
has  been  disturbed  only  in  Savannah.  Maconr  Wavcross. 
Albany,  Thomasville  and  smaller  towns  in  Southern  Georgia. 
Augusta  and  the  smaller  towns  in  Middle  Georgia  have  lost 
Negroes,  but  recent  attempts  to  secure  laborers  for  canton- 
ment construction  in  three  Middle  Georgia  cities  were 
successful.  *  *  *  The  towns  of  the  Upper  Piedmont 
have  also  suffered  a  relatively  slight  loss. 

]\^  seem.*?  that  the  large  majority  of  the  migrants  from 
towns  have  been  drawn  f rom  the  best  and  poorest  elements. 
The  unemployed  and  sh,ift1p<;<;  wprp  ta,ken  up  by  .agents  and 
(afterward,  some  of)  the  property-owning  .anri  money- 
saving  class  paid  their  own  wpy  up. 

*" Bricklayers. —  I  he  bricklayers  of  Georgia  are  about 
equally  divided  between  the  two  races.  In  Augusta  the  head 
of  the  Negro  bricklayers'  union  reported  that  12  out  of  134 
had  moved  North  and  4  had  returned  (June,  1917).  Reports 
from  other  towns  indicated  that  from  5  to  10  per  cent  of 
the  Negro  bricklayers  had  moved.  Enough  have  ^remained, 
however,  to  carry  on  construction  work  without  incon- 
venience. The  head  of  the  bricklayers'  union  of  Augusta 
attributed  the  movement  of  these  tradesmen  entirely  to  the 
fact  that  increases  in  wages,  ranging  from  10  to  15  cents  per 
hour,  were  offered  in  Northern  cities.  About  the  same  con- 
ditions hold  for  the  plastering  trade. 

"Carpenters. — Although  a  sprinkling  of  Negro  carpenters 
moved  North  from  the  towns,  no  great  shortage  has  been 
felt.  From  2,000  to  4,000  carpenters  have  been  employed  in 
Atlanta,  1,500  to  2,000  in  Macon,  and  1,000  or  more  in 
Augusta  for  the  construction  of  Army  cantonments.  About 
half  of  these  were  Negroes.  *  *  *  Hitherto  carpenters 
have  been  getting  30  and  35  cents  per  hour ;  cantonment  work 
pays  40  cents.1  Ship  carpenters  are  badly  needed  in  Savan- 
nah, but  this  is  a  new  trade  for  the  South. 

"Day  Labor. — Practically  all  of  the  day  labor  in  Georgia,, 
outside  of  the  Upper  Piedmont  and  mountain  towns,  is  done 
by  Negroes.  All  through  the  Cotton  Belt  fertilizer  works, 
oil  mills,  gins,  and  compresses  employ  Negroes,  and  in  the 
larger  towns  employment  is  also  furnished  to  Negroes  as 
railway  shop  helpers,  street  laborers,  porters,  drivers,  hod 
1  Carpenters  in  the  North  in  1920  were  making  about  five  times 
this  amount  and  wages  have  also  advanced  in  the  South. 


City  and  Inter-State  Migration  137 

carriers,  etc.  This  class  of  labor  is  scarcer  in  Georgia  than 
it  probably  ever  has  been  before,  and  a  number  of  employers 
complain  of  green  and  inexperienced  hands.  The  fertilizer 
plants — one  or  more  in  every  town  of  over  2,000  people — 
employ  from  30  to  300  men.  They  take  on  about  25  per 
cent  of  their  labor  in  the  fall  and  reach  their  maximum  in 
January  and  February.  The  managers  of  these  plants, 
especially  in  the  southern  portion  of  the  State, 
report  that  many  of  their  hands  have  moved  north 
since  they  were  laid  off  in  the  spring.  They  are 
apprehensive  that  they  will  not  be  able  to  renew  their  force 
without  considerable  trouble.  After  the  cotton  picking  sea- 
son is  over,  any  shortage  in  these  plants  must  eventually 
be  made  up  from  the  surrounding  rural  districts,  because 
the  farmer  can  not  compete  with  the  town  employer  in  the 
matter  of  wages.  In  1916,  when  farm  hands  were  getting  50 
and  75  cents  a  day,  the  oil  mills  and  fertilizer  works  paid 
80  cents  and  $1  and  $1.25  a  day.  During  the  latter  part 
of  the  1916  season  many  of  these  industries  were  paying 
$1.50  and  $1.75  a  day. 

Complaint  of  incompetent  labor  is  especially  prevalent 
among  railway  shop  foremen  and  bosses  of  section  gangs. 
Negroes  who  work  for  the  railroads,  however,  are  contin- 
ually shifting  their  employment,  even  in  normal  times.  The 
Central  of  Georgia  shops  at  Macon,  the  Atlanta,  Birming- 
ham &  Atlantic  shops  at  Fitzgerald,  and  the  Atlantic  Coast 
Line  shops  at  Waycross  reported  great  disturbance  last  sum- 
mer and  a  continued  shifting  of  their  labor  up  to  date. 
The  Central  of  Georgia  shops  in  Macon  employ  about  600 
Negroes,  mostly  unskilled,  and  they  report  that  during  the 
three  months  March-May,  1917,  when  a  labor  agent  was 
active  in  Macon,  they  lost  approximately  200  Negroes  per 
month,  or  one-third  of  their  normal  force.  In  normal  times 
their  turnover  was  about  100  per  month.  The  section  gangs 
of  the  Georgia  Southern  &  Florida ;  Atlanta,  Birmingham  & 
Atlantic;  and  parts  of  the  Central  of  Georgia  and  Coast 
Line  are  also  reported  short.  In  general,  the  movement 
of  common  laborers  has  been  stopped  by  a  rise  in  the  scale 
of  wages  from  75  and  80  cents  per  day  in  1916  to  $1.25, 
$1.50,  and  $2  a  day  in  the  summer  of  1917." 

Tt...tlmQ  appears  *W,  corresponding  to  the  .farm  owners 
and  renters  in  the  country  there  is  algn  a  stable  "upperv.  • 


138  Negro  Migration 

tenth"  among  the  Negro  population  of  the  towns,  com- 
posed of  the  merchants,  doctors,  teachers  and  preachers. 
Just  as  the  unattached  agricultural  laborers  constitute  the 
shifting  class  in  the  country  districts,  so  the  domestic  and 
the  common  laborer  is  the  migrant  in  the  city.  Home  owner- 
ship is  still  proportionately  small  in  the  Negro  population. 
Only  22  per  cent  of  Negroes  in  the  United  States  who 
occupy  "other  than  farm"  homes  are  owners.  A  fourth  of 
these  homes  are  mortgaged.  The  owners  of  other  than 
farm  homes,  however,  increased  between  1890  and  1910 
from  143,500  to  285,000,  or  about  100  per  cent.10 

This  growth  of  a  stable,  home-owning  class  in  the  town 
is  fully  as  encouraging  as  the  growth  of  landownership  in 
the  country.  It  is  to  the  personal  interest  of  these  settled 
property-owning  Negro  leaders  to  keep  their  fellow  towns- 
men from  migrating.  It  is  therefore  very  significant  that 
these  leaders  did  not  oppose  but  rather  encouraged  the 
migration  of  1916-17.  Although  their  personal  interest 
is  in  seeing  their  race  stay  in  the  South,  the  conditions  from 
which  they  were  moving  were  so  patently  undesirable  that 
the  leaders  either  did  not  discourage  or  actively  encouraged 
the  movement. 

CAUSES   OF    CITY    MIGRATION 

The  abnormal  wage  conditions  of  1916-17  are  so  widely 
known  that  little  need  be  said  in  connection  with  them  as  a 
principal  cause  of  the  movement.  It  has  also  been  noted 
that  the  movement  itself  created  a  sort  of  a  suction  which 
drew  others  along.  Dr.  W.  T.  B.  Williams,  the  colored 
investigator,  on  the  Department  of  Labor  survey,  summed 
this  up  in  the  following  keen  observation : 

"The  unusual  amounts  of  money  coming  in,  the  glowing 
accounts  from  the  North,  and  the  excitement  and  stir  of 
greafTTowcls  leaving,  work  upon  the  feelmgs__of  many 
NeftfQesr  Thev  pull  up  and  follow  aTmosF  without-gnrason. 
they  are  stampeded  into  action.   This  accountsjnjarge  part 

10  Negro  Population,  1790-1915,  p.  460. 


City  and  Inter-State  Migration  139 

for  the  apparently  unreasonable  doings  of  many  who  give 

up i-^nnri   positions    or   sap-jti^;   y^Jllf^Jhj™^^   Or  good 

businesses  to  go  North." 

In  speaking  of  the  more  definite  causes  of  the  move- 
ment he  continues: 

"The  treatment  acorded  the  Negro  always  stood  second, 
when  not' first,  amuiig  die  leasons  given  by  Negroes  for 
leaving  the  ijouth.  1  talked  with  all  classes  of  colored  peo- 
ple from  Virginia  to  Louisiana,  farm  hands,  tenants,  farm- 
ers, hack  drivers,  porters,  mechanics,  barbers,  merchants, 
insurance  men,  teachers,  heads  of  schools,  ministers,  drug- 
gists, physicians,  lawyers,  and  in  every  instance  the  matter 
of  treatment  came  to  the  front  voluntarily.  This  is  the 
all-absorbing,  burning  question  among  the  Negroes." 

It  is  this  "treatment,"  which  operates  more  and  more 
as  a  cause  for  race  movement  as  the  Negro  develops 
a  fuller  group  consciousness.  It  demands  the  attention 
of  the  really  constructive  statesmen  of  the  country.  Although 
this  is  a  topic  which  has  as  many  angles  as  there  are  race 
contacts  in  the  South,  the  most  discussed  phases  are  housing, 
protection  and  justice  in  the  courts  and  various  institutional 
provisions  for  colored  people.  These  tend  more  to  cause 
the  movement  to  cities  than  to  influence  the  movements 
from  one  country  district  to  another. 

Housing. — Negro  rental  property  is  notoriously  a  high 

yielding   inv^mpnt   in    .^nntViAm    tnwnc     anH    sanitary   COn- 
HitJrmc  Jn   many  nf  the  "NTpprrp,   dJS,^^*  "*  thggp  towns  have 

been  properly  termed  atrocious. 

A  first  hand  study  of  a  Piedmont  town  and  educational 
center  in  Georgia  revealed  the  following  conditions  i11 

Rooms  Occupied  by  Negro  Families: 
Number  of  Families  Number  of  Families 

Occupying  Occupying 

1  room  148  5  rooms    43 

2  rooms   517  6  rooms    27 

3  rooms   313  7  rooms    9 

4  rooms    156  Over  7  rooms  11 

Less  than  5  rooms 1,134    5  or  more  rooms 90 

11  See  The  Negroes  of  Athens,  Ga.,  opp.  cite,  Chapter  III. 


14°  Negro  Migration 

Thus  it  appears  that  the  two-and  three-room  houses 
are  the  most  usual  and  that  1,134  or  93  per  cent  of  the  1,224 
families  live  in  houses  of  fewer  than  five  rooms.  A  more 
detailed  examination  of  the  premises  surrounding  these 
houses  showed  that  the  inmates  of  1,008  of  them  use  out- 
side privies  in  some  form.  Most  of  them  have  a  small  earth 
closet  close  to  the  house.  A^ ew  have  no  privy  at  all  on  the 
prpmicpc,  ..3^  11S?  that  of  a  neighbor,  In  such  cases  the 
landlords  build  no  fence  between  the  houses  and  provide 
one  joint  privy  for  four  or  five  houses.  In  one  instance  the 
inmates  of  five  houses  were  using  one  small  box-like  house, 
six  by  four  feet,  and  in  another  four  large  double  houses 
were  using  one  privy  of  the  same  dimensions. 

The  soil  is  further  polluted  by  the  continued  dumping 
of  waste  water  and  scraps  in  the  back  yards.  No  Negro 
rented  house  has  a^sink.  The_water  is  emptied  on  the 
ground.  Among  these  privies  and  waste-water  dumps  are 
the  519  wpIIc  frnm  <af\j\fh  the  Negroes~"bT  the  city  get  most 
of  their  water.  Under  such  conditions  the  water  must  be 
unhealthy  and  typhoid  breeding.  The  city  bacteriologist  has 
tested  47  wells  in  the  years  1913-1914  and  reported  that 
most  of  them  should  be  condemned. 

Such  conditions  are  common  throughout  the  Negro  set- 
tlements in  many  towns.  Municipalities  neglect  these  dis- 
tricts in  paving-,  sewerage  and  water  connections.  Notwith- 
standing the  undesirability  of  the  houses  and  premises,  the 
rents  are  comparatively  high.  From  the  same  study  of 
Athens  (  p.  13-16)  we  note  the  following  condition : 

The  average  rent  (1913)  in  the  two  best  settlements  of 
the  town  was  $1.77  per  month  or  $6.00  per  house  averaging 
3.4  rooms,  from  15  to  20  per  cent  return  on  the  amount 
invested  in  the  property.  There  is  some  evidence  also  that 
the  rest  of  these  houses  is  regulated  to  the  price  that  the 
market  will  bear  A  Negro  will  rent  a  house  and  pay  $6.50 
per  month  for  it  while  his  neighbor  is  paying  $6.00  per 
month  for  a  house  which  is  as  like  it  as  one  pea  to  another. 


City  and  Inter-State  Migration  141 

While  the  rental  was  $1.77_per  room  per  month  in  the  best 
settlements,  it  was  $2.04  per  room  per  month  for  houses 
o£  similar  construction  and  value  in  the  worst  settlements — 
the  localities  where  the  houses  are  crowded  in  rough  and 
rocky  streets,  intersected  by  railroad  spur  tracks.  .This  sim- 
ply means  that  the  Negro,  occupying  an  inferior  bargain- 
ing^ jgosition^J^^^xrjbite^^  of  this  class  of 
rental  property. 

Such  a  condition  adds  to  the  discontent  of  the  colored 
people-arid  undoubtedly  oinTftbutes ""To*  the  "willingness  to 
move!!  The  tenements  of  Northern  cities,  though  often 
more^congcotcd  and  in  some  -ways  more  unsanitary,  are 
nevertheless,  to  he  preferred  to  these  frame,  hovels  without 
light,  water,  sewerage  or  paving,  yet  costing  a  relatively 
high  rent! 

Rrntprtinn  and  Justice  in  the  Couxis  ■  Whipping  as  a 
form  of  maintaining  discipline  on  tmny  plantations  con- 
tinued  lon^  after  the  rnlnreH  mpn  w^re  frfH  The  superior 
protection  offered  by  the  city  from  this  and  other  forms  of 
rough  handling  for  which  the  country  Negro  has  little 
redress  has  been  a  powerful  influence  for  discontent  with 
rural  protection.  In  the  Southern  city  the  Negro  is  prac- 
tically as  well  protected  from  these  flagrant  forms  of 
violence  and  from  mobs  as  in  the  Northern  city.  These  in- 
fluences may,  therefore,  be  said  to  operate*  more  as  causes 
for  movement  from  country  to  city  than  from  South  to 
North. 

There  is  evidence,  however,  that  in  friction  which  brings 
the  Negro  into  court  in  the^ftfMith  n<a  is  in  many  instances 
likely  to  receive  a  summary  trial.  This  question  of  justice 
in  the  courts  is  one  uppermost  in  the  Negro  mind  and  its 
constant  discussion  probably  has  as  much  effect  in  adding 
to  the  apprehension  and  discontent  of  the  law-abiding  Negro 
as  to  the  increase  of  the  criminal  class.  The  subject  is  one 
which  should  be  investigated  much  further  than  the  scope 
of  this  study  permits. 


142  Negro  Migration 

Though  about  three  times  as  many  Negroes  per  100,000 
are  committed  in  the  North  as  in  the  South,  the  crimes  for 
which  they  are  committed  are  about  of  the  same  nature. 
That  is,  2,236.7  per  100,000,  or  78.9  per  cent  of  the  total 
number  of  commitments  in  the  North  and  732.5,  or  83.2 
per  cent  of  the  total  number  of  commitments  in  the  South 
are  for  minor  offenses, — larceny,  drunkenness  and  disorderly 
conduct,  vagrancy,  juvenile  offenses  and  other  minor  offenses. 

Notwithstanding  this  virtual  equality  in  the  proportions 
committed  for  minor  offenses,  there  is  a  striking  inequality 
in  the  length  of  sentences  which  were  served.  The  pro- 
portion of  long  sentences  in  the  South  seems  unduly 
high.12 

Per  Cent  Committed  For: 

Over  1  month  1  month 

1  year  to  1  year  or  less 
White  Commitments: 

North  6.9  53.9  39.2 

South 33.8  37.8  28.4 

Negro  Commitments: 

North    16.0  53.5  30.5 

South    42.3  40.4  17.4 

Thus  42.3  per  cent  of  the  Negroes  in  the  South  are 

committed  for  a  year  or  more,  while  only  16  per  cent  are 

given  such  a  long  term  in  the  North ;  and  only  17.4  per  cent 

of  the  Southern  Negroes  are  committed  for  1  month  or  less, 

while  30.5  per  cent  of  the  Northern  commitments  are  for 

this  short  period.    The  fact  that  the  commitments  are  also 

longer  for  white  people  in  the  South  indicates  that  some  of 

this  discrepancy  in  length  of  sentence  is  due  to  a  sectional 

rather  than  a  racial  difference  in  administration  of  justice. 

The  purely  sectional  tendency  to  impose  longer  sentences 

in  the  South  on  both  races  is  not,  however,  sufficient  to 

account  for  the  tremendous  proportion  of  Southern  Negroes 

committed  for  over  a  year  and  the  very  small  proportion 

committed  for  less  than  a  month.13 

12  Negro  population  in  the  U.  S.,  opp.  cite,  p.  440. 
18  Relative  ability  to  pay  fines  does  not  offset  this  conclusion 
since  in  the  South  66.8  per  cent  of  Negro  commitments  and  65.0 


City  and  Inter-State  Migration  143 

y^per  cent  of  white  commitments  were  for  non-payment  of  fines. 
J  This  seems  rather  to  indicate  that  relatively  more  Negroes  are 
\  to  be  found  serving  the  short  sentences  through  inability  to  pay 
/  fines,  and  yet  it  was  noted  that  the  percentage  serving  the  short 
/S  sentence  is  much  smaller  than  the  percentage  of  whites.  In 
I  J  the  North  only  52.5  per  cent  of  Negroes  are  serving  through 
/     inability  to  pay  fines  imposed.    This  again  indicates  that  a  much 

^ larger  proportion  of  Negroes  committed  in  the  South  are  serving 

through  inability  to  pay  fines  than  is  the  case  in  the  North. 

These  figures  seem  to  indicate  a  definite  tendency  on  the 
part  of  Southern  courts  to  impose  heavier  sentences  on 
the  Negro  than  upon  whites,  and  heavier  sentences  than 
those  imposed  by  the  Northern  courts  upon  the  Negro. 
The  strikingly  small  number  of  commitments  for  less  than 
a  month  is  also  indicative  of  a  tendency  on  the  part  of 
Southern  judges  to  condone  or  merely  reprimand  certain 
pecadillos  of  the  Negro  which  are  punished  with  short 
imprisonment  in  the  North. 

In  some  districts  the  system  of  employing  convicts  on 
the  roads  of  the  county  in  which  they  are  convicted,  influ- 
ences judges  in  imposing  heavy  sentences,  but  in  most 
instances  there  is  an  honest  belief  on  the  part  of  the  judge 
that  the  best  way  to  apply  correction  to  the  Negro  is  to 
follow  somewhat  the  method  applied  to  children,  i.  e.,  either 
merely  to  reprimand  and  warn,  or  to  impose  a  heavy  punish- 
ment. 

This  question  of  summary  disposal  of  minor  offenders 
is,  however,  but  a  part  of  the  story.  If  adequate  figures  as 
to  ratio  of  arrests  to  convictions  could  be  secured,  it  would 
be  noted  that  many  officers  are  overzealous  in  arresting 
Negroes.  The  following  quotation  from  an  editorial  of  a 
leading  Georgia  daily  during  the  migration  indicates  that  at 
least  some  of  the  Southern  communities  are  awakening  to 
this  consideration: 


V 


"Everybody  seems  to  be  asleep  about  what  is  going  on 
right  under  our  noses — that  is,  everybody  but  those  farmers 
who  waked  up  on  mornings  recently  to  find  every  Negro 


144  Negro  Migration 

over  21  on  their  places  gone.  *  *  *  And  we  go  about 
our  affairs  as  usual — our  police  raid  pool  rooms  for  "loaf- 
ing Negroes,"  bring  in  12,  keep  them  in  the  barracks  all 
night,  and  next  morning  find  that  10  of  them  have  steady 
jobs  and  were  there  merely  to  spend  an  hour  in  the  only 
indoor  recreation  they  have;  our  county  officers  hear  of  a 
disturbance  at  a  Negro  resort  and  bring  in  fifty-odd  men, 
women,  boys  and  girls  to  spend  the  night  in  jail,  to  make 
a  bond  at  10  per  cent,  to  hire  lawyers,  to  mortgage  half 
of  two  months'  pay  to  get  back  to  their  jobs  Monday  morn- 
ing, although  but  half  a  dozen  of  them  could  have  been 
guilty  of  disorderly  conduct." 

Another  Mississippi  daily  adds  the  following: 

"We  allow  petty  officers  of  the  law  to  harass  and  oppress 
our  Negro  labor,  mulcting  them  of  their  wages,  assessing 
stiff  fines  on  trivial  charges,  and  often  they  are  convicted 
on  charges,  which  if  preferred  against  a  white  man  would 
result  in  prompt  acquittal."  14 

Whether  this  tendency  is  due  to  a  mistaken  sense  of  duty 
or  to  the  operation  of  the  system  which  provides  a  payment 
of  a  fixed  sum  per  arrest  to  officers  is  immaterial.  Re- 
gardless of  its  cause,  it  has  a  very  disquieting  effect  even 
among  the  law-abiding  Negroes. 

Aside  from  matters  involving  arrest,  the  Negro  feels 
that  in  civil  cases  he  does  not  always  have  an  absolutely 
impartial  verdict  when  he  is  involved  in  a  dispute  with  a 
white  man.  No  data  are  available  on  this  point.  But  the 
main  point  of«  interest  in  the  study  of  migration  is  that 
regardless  of  the  extent  to  which  Negroes  are  right  or 
wrong  in  their  complaint  against  the  administration  of 
criminal  and  civil  justice,  it  is  a  real  factor  in  their  dis- 
content, and  as  it  is  discussed  more  and  more,  it  becomes  a 
more  important  factor.  As  such  it  demands  a  much  more 
thorough  investigation  at  the  hands  of  those  who  love 
justice  and  who  desire  to  weaken  the  forces  which  contrib- 
ute to  migration. 

"These  two  quotations  are  requoted  from  Negro  Migration 
in  1916-17,  opp.  cite,  p.  106. 


V 


City  and  Inter-State  Migration  145 


Churches. — The  superior  advantages  to  the  colored  people 
afforded  by  the  institutions  of  the  city  and  the  institu- 
tions of  the  North  are  undoubtedly  a  great  factor  both  in  the 
movement  from  country  to  town  and  from  South  to  North. 

As.  far  as  their  churches  are  concerned,  the  Negroes 
are  practically  left  tcTwofk  out  their  own  salvation.  The 
bonds  hfitwgen  the  Negro  and  white  Method ist  and  Bap- 
ttato  are  YfTy  Ino.s*  Denominationalism  is  so  strong  in 
the  colored  population  that  there  is  too  rapid  an  increase 
of  small,  poorly-pastored,  poorly-housed  churches  in  the 
country.  The  ability  of  the  city  and  town  congregation  to 
provide  better  church  facilities  is  a  factor  in  the  urban 
migration. 

Schools, — A  thorough  analysis  of  the  school  situation 
directed  by  Dr.  Thomas  Jesse  Jones,  and  published  as  Bul- 
letins 38  and  39,  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Education,  1917,  pictures 
the_great  inferiority  of  the  colore^  srhno^and  from  this 

ptrtnro    nnP    ran    readily    rfl^Kze    why    lack-^of    educational 

facilities  should  be  urged  by  Npg™  ^arifjrff  qo  a  reason 

for  pOptllatiflin    mew/^^ni- 

The  report  of  the  Bureau  of  Education  (Vol.  I,  Chapter 
II)  pointed  out  that  per  capita  expenditures  for  teachers' 
salaries  in  Southern  States  for  all  children  are  much  lower 
than  expenditures  in  Northern  States.  In  contrast  with 
California,  whose  annual  public  expenditures  for  teachers' 
salaries  is  $36.30  per  child,  and  New  York,  whose  expen- 
diture is  $25.40,  the  range  in  Southern  States  is  from  $12.36 
in  Maryland  to  $4.16  in  North  Carolina.  The  public  ex- 
penditure for  colored  children  is  much  lower  than  this 
per  capita  for  all  children.  In  Southern  States  the  per 
capita  for  Negro  children  ranged  from  $8.53  in  Kentucky 
to  $1.44  in  South  Carolina.  In  the  Black  Belt  counties,  the 
per  capita  for  colored  children  is  much  lower  than  in  coun- 
ties having  a  smaller  Negro  population.  The  report  gives 
the  following  table  of  counties  grouped  according  to  per- 
centage of  Negroes  in  their  total  population : 


146  Negro  Migration 

Per  Capita  Expenditure  for  Teachers'  Salaries  in  Southern 

Counties  Grouped  According  to  Percentage  of 

Negroes  in  the  Population. 

White  Negro 
Per  Capita  Per  Capita 

Counties  under  10  per  cent $7.96  $7.23 

Counties  10  to  25  per  cent 9.55  5.55 

Counties  25  to  50  per  cent 11.11  3.19 

Counties  50  to  75  per  cent 12.53  1.77 

Counties  75  per  cent  and  over 22.22  1.78 

This  low  per  capita  for  both  races  is  attributed  to  the 
fact  that  the  South,  with  less  wealth  than  other  sections, 
has  difficulty  in  securing  adequate  revenue  for  the  school 
system,  and  that  this  revenue  has  to  be  divided  between  the 
two  systems  of  schools.  In  the  counties  over  50  per  cent 
Negro,  the  colored  children  are  crowded  into  one-room 
country  schools,  while  the  more  scattered  white  children 
are  provided  with  a  proportionately  larger  number  of 
schools. 

The  first  great  problem  to  be  solved  is  that  of  adequate 
space  for  pupils.  In  some  of  the  Southern  States  the  per- 
centage of  colored  children  6  to  14  years  of  age  who  attend 
school  is  as  low  as  35.  In  almost  all  the  districts  in  the 
open  country  there  are  less  than  one-third  of  the  children 
in  attendance.  The  report  points  out  that  "Many  communi- 
ties do  not  own  school  buildings  for  the  colored  children.  In 
Alabama  over  61  per  cent  of  colored  schools  are  taught 
in  buildings  not  owned  by  the  county  and  in  Georgia 
such  school  houses  form  63  per  cent  of  the  total.  *  *  * 
A  careful  survey  of  three  typical  counties  in  Alabama, 
made  by  State  supervisors  of  schools,  disclosed  the  fact 
that  whereas  the  seating  capacity  of  the  80  colored  schools 
was  but  3,794  their  enrollment  was  6,391  and  attendance 
5,832.  In  other  words,  these  schools  were  called  upon  to 
accommodate,  at  the  time  of  the  survey,  2,038  more  pupils 
than  their  normal  capacity." 


City  and  Inter-State  Migration  147 

The  average  annual  salary  for  1911-12  and  1912-13,  for 
Negro  teachers  in  public  schools,  ranged  from  $310.05  in 
Kentucky  to  $110.54  in  South  Carolina.  The  report  con- 
tinues :  "It  is  little  wonder  that  70  per  cent  of  the  teachers 
in  the  Black  Belt  States  have  less  than  six  grades  of  ele- 
mentary education." 

Poor  housing  and  poor  teaching,  coupled  with  a  short 
school  term  of  only  five  or  six  months,  renders  the  ele- 
mentary instruction  of  those  pupils  who  do  attend  schools 
very  inadequate.  The  public  high  school  facilities  in  the 
rural  districts  are  very  limited.  Only  64  public  high  schools 
and  200  schools  offering  some  secondary  subjects  for 
Negroes  were  listed  by  the  report  of  the  Bureau  of  Edu- 
cation. Practically  all  of  these  were  located  in  cities  or 
small  towns.  In  the  State  of  Georgia,  the  only  full  public 
high  school  was  in  Athens.  The  cities  of  Atlanta  and 
Macon  had  no  high  school  for  Negroes  in  their  public  school 
system. 

Not  only  are  the  special  institutions  provided  for  Negroes 
progressively  better  in  country  districts  with  white  majori- 
ties than  in  the  Black  Belt,  better  in  towns  than  in  the 
country  and  better  in  Northern  than  in  Southern  cities,  but 
the  public  works  used  by  both  races,  such  as  roads  and 
streets,  are  also  progressively  better.15 

Thus  social  causes  which  seem  to  play  but  a  small  part 
in  influencing  the  movement  from  one  rural  district  to 
another  are  increasingly  iml>oftant  in  city  migrations.  The 
influence  of  these  social  causes  is  also  increasing  as  the 
Negro  develops  an  increasingly  definite  group  conscious- 
ness^ 

15  This  list  includes  all  the  principle  grievances  of  the  Negro 
except  denial  of  the  ballot  and  poor  facilities  in  public  convey- 
ances. While  these  grievances  cause  movement  from  South 
to  North,  they  are  not  included  in  this  list  of  causes  of  movement 
from  country  to  city  because  within  any  state  conditions  of 
travel  and  of  suffrage  are  the  same  for  countrymen  as  for  city 
dwellers. 


CHAPTER  IV. 
THE  RESULTS  OF  MIGRATION 

Such  a  volume  of  movement  as  has  been  described  in  pre- 
ceding chapters  can  but  have  profound  effects  upon  the 
Negro  population  and  upon  the  communities  gaining  or 
losing  by  migration.  Some  description  of  these  effects  is 
necessary  before  the  study  is  complete. 

Almost  all  of  the  so-called  Negro  problems  are  com- 
plicated by  the  fact  that  there  are  many  migrants  in  the 
colored  population.  To  trace  fully  the  detailed  results  of 
migration  would  require  a  rather  ambitious  treatment  of 
many  different  phases  of  the  Negro  question.  The  best 
that  can  be  done  in  the  remainder  of  this  study  is  to  out- 
line some  of  the  most  patent  effects.  Even  these  are  not 
presented  in  detail.  The  brief  treatment  given,  however, 
indicates  that  some  abnormalities  which  are  often  said  to 
be  due  to  traits  inherent  in  the  Negro  race  may  be  largely 
explained  by  the  abnormal  number  of  migrants  in  the 
population.  Many  students  of  the  race  problems  have  tended 
to  attribute  abnormalities  in  sex"  distribution,  fecundity, 
vitality,  criminality,  insanity,  and  evert  in,  Negro  insti- 
tutions  almost  entirely  to  inherent  traits  of  racial  heredity. 

it  is  not  withm  the  province  Of  this  volume  to  determine 
the  extent  to  which  the  Negro  has  a  different  racial  heredity 
from  the  white  man.  In  trying  to  do  this  we  would  be  com- 
pelled to  traverse  too  much  debatable  ground.  Anthro- 
pologists, physiologists  and  psychologists  have  too  many 
points  to  settle  before  this  question  can  be  answered 
with  any  degree  of  scientific  accuracy.  If,  however,  it 
appears  that  many  of  the  peculiarities  in  population  and 
institutions  can,  in  a  large  measure,  be  accounted  for  by 


The  Results  of  Migration  149 

conditions  in  the  social  environment  such  as  migration,  and 
that  the  same  peculiarities  also  exist  to  some  degree  among 
other  racial  groups  in  the  same  circumstances,  then  the  im- 
portance of  determining  whether  or  not  the  Negro  has 
hereditary  tendencies  in  these  directions  is  greatly  lessened. 
Much  more  practical  value  attaches  to  the  study  of  how  far 
these  abnormalities  are  modified  by  the  environment,  and 
how  the  environment  may  be  changed  to  minimize  them. 

POPULATION 

Sex  and  Age. — The  outstanding  peculiarity  of  the  Negro 
migration  before  1910  was  that  young  women  and  young 
men  furnished  the  predominant  majority  of  the  migrants 
from  the  Black  Belt.  Since  the  young  men  were  moving 
mainly  from  one  agricultural  section  to  another,1  and  since 
the  young  women  were  moving  both  from  one  agricultural 
section  to  another  and  to  the  towns  in  response  to  domestic 
service  opportunity,  the  women  were  leaving  the  rural  dis- 
tricts faster.  But  even  in  increasing  rural  counties  the  in- 
crease in  females  is  greater  than  the  increase  in  males, 
mainly  because  of  villages  included  in  these  counties. 

The  following  table  gives  the  movement  by  sexes  in  the 
rural  counties  of  Georgia  grouped  according  to  whether 
they  are  losing,  gaining  slowly  or  gaining  rapidly  in  popu- 
lation.    (See  shading  of  Map  II). 

Increase  of  Negroes  by  Sex 
Rural  Districts  of  Georgia,  1900-1910 

County  Group  Increase  Increase 

Males  Females 

Counties  Losing 115  — 550 

Counties  Gaining  Slowly   12,660  14,045 

Counties  Gaining  Rapidly   29,338  32,088 

It  has  previously  been  noted  that  this  different  move- 
ment of  the  two  sexes  has  created  a  great  excess  of  females 
in  the  cities.  Where  there  are  only  from  800  to  900  males 
per  1,000  females  the  resultant  disturbance  in  family  life 

1This  statement  applies  to  the  pre-war  migration.  During 
the  war  males  were  moving  to  industrial  cities  of  the  North. 


150  Negro  Migration 

and  morality  is  necessarily  great.  The  writer's  study  of 
Athens,  Georgia,  revealed  the  following  condition  of  the 
women  with  children  under  18  years  of  age: 

Athens,  Georgia. 

Conjugal  Condition  of  742  Negro  Women  with  Children 

Number  single 30  or    4  per  cent  of  total 

Number  widowed   113  or  16  per  cent  of  total 

Number  separated    S3  or    7  per  cent  of  total 

Number  living  with  husband 546  or  73  per  cent  of  total 

The  number  of  women  with  illegitimate  children  indi- 
cates' ulZioraIff)ra^^  and  separated 

census  does  not  tabulate  separately  the  conjugal  condition 
of  Negro  women  rearing  children,  but  in  the  total  female 
population  the  following  proportions  prevailed  in  1910: 

Conjugal  Condition:    Per  Cent  Female  Population  15  Years  of 
Age  and  Over— 1910  (p.  237)2 

Single         Married      Widowed  Divorced 

Negro    26.6  57.2  14.8  1.1 

White    30.1  59.0  10.1  .6 

This  indicates  that  there  are  proportionately  fewer  col- 
ored than  white  women  single.  This  is  probably  due  to 
earlier  marriages.  But  a  larger  proportion  of  Negroes  are 
widowed  or  divorced.  The  proportions  in  urban  communi- 
ties, where  migration  has  upset  the  ratio  between  the  sexes, 
are  quite  different  from  the  proportions  in  the  population 

Conjugal  Condition:    Per  Cent  of  Negro  Female  Population  in 
Urban  Communities--1910  (p.  270) 

Single         Married      Widowed  Divorced 
Middle  Atlantic  States.  30.8  52.6  15.8  .5 

South  Atlantic  States..  30.2  49.4  19.2  .9 

2  Inasmuch  as  this  chapter  is  almost  entirely  based  on  data 
contained  in  "Negro  Population  in  the  United  States,  1790-1915" 
U.  S.  Bureau  of  the  Census,  numerous  footnotes  are  avoided  by 
merely  including  page  references  to  this  volume  in  parentheses  in 
the  text. 


The  Results  of  Migration  151 

as  a  whole.  This  table  indicates  that  the  proportion  of  single 
and  widowed  females  is  considerably  higher  in  the  cities  of 
both  the  North  and  the  South  than  in  the  total  Negro  pop- 
ulation. Much  of  the  low  morality  and  looseness  of  family 
ties  indicated  bvthese  figures  is  due  to  the  disturbance  in  the 
ratio  of  the  twa  sexes  through  migration. 

Number  of  Children  Born. — The  census  figures  tabulated 
under  the  heading  of  "Fertility"  need  further  interpreta- 
tion for  several  reasons.  In  the  first  place,  they  are  a  ratio 
of  the  number  of  children  to  the  number  of  women  15  to  44 
years  of  age.  This  ratio  depends  on  the  proportion  of 
women  who  are  married,  the  number  of  children  born  and 
the  proportion  who  survive.  With  this  in  mind  the  follow- 
ing figures  from  the  Census  of  1910  are  suggestive  (p.  288) : 
In  the  South  there  were  617  white  children  under  5  years  of 
age  per  1,000  white  women  of  15  to  44  years  of  age,  while 
there  were  only  554  colored  children  per  1,000  colored 
women  of  15  to  44  years  of  age.  In  other  words,  even  in 
the  South,  where  the  Negro  population  increases  most  rap- 
idly, the  disturbances  in  sex  ratio,  marriage  rate  and  infant 
mortality  have  reduced  the  proportion  of  colored  children 
below  that  of  the  native  white  children.  In  the  North 
there  were  only  282  colored  children  per  1,000  col- 
ored women  15  to  44  years  of  age,  whereas  there  were 
442  white  children  per  1,000  white  women  of  the  same 
age.  This  is  in  part  due  to  the  disturbance  in  the  sex  ratio 
and  the  consequent  lowering  of  the  marriage  rate,  and  it 
is  in  part  due  to  the  rise  in  the  standard  of  living  in  North- 
ern communities.  The  increased  struggle  for  existence  in 
the  cities  and  increased  living  expenses  causes  a  decrease 
in  the  birth  rate.  This  is  indicated  by  the  fact  when  the 
ratio  is  based  on  married  women  instead  of  all  females 
between  the  ages  of  15  and  44  it  is  as  follows:  Children 
under  5  years  per  1,000  married  females  in  the  South, 
749  white  and  757  colored,  in  the  North  539  white  and  396 
colored. 


152  Negro  Migration 

Studies  of  the  sex  ratio  of  our  immigrant  population 
indicate  that  there  is  almost  as  much  disturbance,  in  their 
birth  rate,  but  that  males  predominate  among  the  European 
immigrants  while  females  predominate  among  the  Negro 
migrants.  Similar  small  proportions  of  children  to  the  total 
foreign  born  population,  and  married  males  to  the  foreign 
born  population  may  be  noted. 

The  migration  since  1916  was  at  first  so  largely  made  up 
of  male  laborers  that  the  inequality  of  sexes  in  the  Eastern 
cities  has  tended  to  be  reduced.  In  some  of  the  industrial 
cities  which  had  no  appreciable  Negro  population  before 
1916,  there  is  now  a  great  excess  of  males. 

Excess  of  Deaths  Over  Births  and  Vitality. — It  is  fairly 
well  known  that  the  Negro  populations  in  Northern  cities 
are  not  self-sustaining  by  excess  of  births  over  deaths. 
This  is  to  be  expected  from  the  foregoing  statement  that 
there  were  in  1910  only  282  colored  children  to  each  1,000 
colored  women  15  to  44  years  of  age  in  the  North  and  only 
396  for  each  1,000  married  women  of  that  group.  In  a  study 
of  the  Negroes  of  Boston,  Massachusetts,  John  Daniels 
noted3  that  between  1900  and  1910  in  Greater  Boston,  the 
birth  rate  and  death  rate  among  the  Negroes  were  exactly 
equal,  being  25.4  per  1,000  in  each  case.  Among  the  whites 
the  birth  rate  was  26.9  and  the  death  rate  18.7.  The  birth 
rate  has  not  even  equalled  the  death  rate  except  recently. 
Daniels  points  out  that  from  1870  to  1875  the  Negro 
death  rate  was  as  high  as  41.3  per  thousand  while  the  birth 
rate  was  only  30.9.  "The  excessive  mortality  and  paucity 
of  births  have  thus  worked  for  the  extinction  of  Boston's 
native  Negro  population." 

An  examination  of  the  annual  reports  of  the  Commis- 
sioner of  Public  Health  of  New  York  City,4  indicates  that 

s  "In  Freedom's  Birthplace,"  John  Daniels,  pp.  471,  134,  and 
136. 

4  "Annual  Reports,"  Commissioner  Public  Health,  New  York 
City,  1906,  1916.  Tables  showing  Total  Births  and  Deaths  for 
Colored  in  New  York  City. 


The  Results  of  Migration  153 

in  the  10-year  period  1906-1916  there  was  an  average  ex- 
cess of  deaths  over  births  among  the  Negroes  of  New 
York  amounting  to  about  400  per  year,  the  total  excess  for 
the  10-year  period  being  3,964.  In  1910  the  death  rate  among 
the  Negroes  of  New  York  was  25.1  and  the  birth  rate 
22.2.  This  actual  loss  of  about  3  per  cent  in  ten 
years  is  in  startling  contrast  with  the  gain  of  over 
15  per  cent  in  Georgia  between  1900  and  1910.  In  this 
respect  migration  from  the  Cotton  Belt  bids  fair  to  reduce 
the  rate  of  increase  in  the  Negro  population  tremendously. 

This  means  that  the  increasing  populations  of  these 
Northern  cities  are  maintained  by  constant  additions  of 
migrants  from  the  South.  Unfortunately,  no  comparable 
statistics  are  available  for  the  Southern  States.  Only  a 
few  large  cities  and  two  border  States  are  included  in  the 
Census  vital  statistics  registration  area.  Such  figures  as  are 
available,  however,  seem  to  indicate  that  the  differences 
in  rates  of  increases  of  native-born  Negroes  in  the  North 
and  in  the  South  are  due  rather  to  a  difference  in  birth 
rate  than  in  the  death  rate.  In  fact,  the  Negro  death  rate 
for  24  Southern  cities  was  29.6  per  thousand,  and  in  33 
Northern  cities  was  25.1.  The  large  rural  population  of  the 
South  must  then  have  a  death  rate  of  somewhere  around 
20  to  25  per  thonsand  (p.  315),  and  a  very  high  birth  rate, 
for  it  is  from  these  areas  that  the  increases  in  the  cities  of 
the  South  as  well  as  the  North  are  drawn. 

A  much  more  detailed  study  of  the  refined  death  rate 
(per  1,000  Negroes  of  different  ages  in  the  population),  and 
of  the  rates  from  different  diseases  is  necessary  before 
exact  conclusions  are  warranted  as  to  what  these  figures 
indicate  in  regard  to  the  vitality  of  the  Negro.  In  the 
number  of  migrants  in  the  population,  however,  we  have 
an  explanation  for  much  of  this  irregularity  in  birth  and 
death  rates  of  different  sections.  It  can  be  seen  that  in  the 
country  districts  where  the  number  of  migrants  form  only 
a  small  proportion  of  the  population,  the  ratio  of  sexes 


154  Negro  Migration 

is  comparatively  undisturbed,  the  number  of  married 
women  higher,  the  standard  of  living  lower,  and  hence  that 
there  is  a  larger  proportion  of  married  women  and  more 
children  per  married  woman.  On  the  other  hand,  although 
deaths  from  malaria  and  typhoid  are  probably  more  fre- 
quent in  the  country,  the  Negro's  chief  foes,  tuberculosis 
and  pneumonia,  are  more  deadly  in  the  city,  and  especially 
in  the  colder  climate  of  the  North..  But  the  superior 
intelligence  of  migrants  and  the  fact  that  they  are  in  the 
more  robust  age  group  bring  their  general  death  rate  in  the 
North  down  slightly  below  the  rate  in  Southern  cities. 

Abnormal  Social  Classes. — The  high  proportion  of  crim- 
inals, delinquents,  and  insane  amonff  Negroes  has  also  been 
attribute  hy  many  writern  tft  racial  traits.  Here  again, 
however,  are  a  group  of  phenomena  which  may,  to  some 
gvten^  ha  flvpantnH  frntn  the  H^Qf^rb^re  nf  any  population 

by  migration.  The  available  data  ajso  indicate  the  influence 
o£  migratiop  on  abnormal  classes  in  the  Negjo  population. 

The  following  figures  are  suggestive  of  the  principal 
factors  underlying  the  situation.  (439) 

Prisoners  and  Juvenile  Delinquents:    Commitment  Rates 
per  100,000  of  Each  Race,  1910. 

White        Negro 

The  North 503.2  2,836.0 

The  West   815.7         3,667.4 

The  South  258.1  880.3 

The  low  commitment  rate  for  white  and  colored  in  the 
South  in  due  both  to  the  predominance  of  the  rural  ele- 
ment  and  tcr  the  small  proportion  of  migrants  in  the  South- 
ern  population. 

In  the  West  North  Central  section,  which  approaches  the 
South  in  its  proportion  of  rural  inhabitants,  the  com- 
mitment rate  for  native  white  people  was  only  296  per 

100.000,  or  only  38  more  than  the  rate  in  the  South.  ,  Its 
commitment  rate  for  fqrejgja,.boni  whites  was,  however, 

550.1.  That  is,  among  the  migrants  the  commitment  rate 


The  Results  of  Migration  155 

was_almost  double  that  of  the  nfttivr  whitr-rrrnplr  This 
influence  of  city  life  and  migration  on  the  crime  rate  is 
further  evident  from  the  rates  in  New  England  with  630.2 
commitments  per  100,000  per  native  whites  and  1,143.2  for 
the  same  number  of  foreign  born.  Due  to  the  concentration 
in  cities  the  commitment  rate  for  both  native  and  foreign 
born  in  New  England  is  more  than  double  that  in  the 
West~Nnrth  Central  States,  while  in  both  sections  the  rate 
foiL-foreign  born  migrants  is  double  that  of  _the  native 
whites. 

This  discussion  indicates  the  effects  of  ^urbanization  and 
the  disturbance  of  the  family  life  on  crimeT  This  is  espe- 
cially  evirleiiL  in  the  ngures  on  Negro  commitments  since  the 
rate  in  the  North  is  about  ZY2  times  the  rates  in  the  South. 

The  strain  of  urban  life  and  migration  is  also  evident 
in  the  insanity  rate  among  the  Negroes  (pp.  448-457).  In 
1910  the  number  of  insane  admitted  to  asylums  per  100,000 
of  each  racial  class  was:  59.7  among  the  whites  of  the 
South  Atlantic  States  and  44.6  among  the  Negroes.  In  the 
Middle  Atlantic  States,  on  the  other  hand,  the  number  was 
105.9  for  whites  and  153.8  for  Negroes.  Although  these 
differences  in  rates  reflect  in  part  the  differences  in  prac- 
tice of  admitting  insane  and  in  the  facilities  for  caring  for 
them,  still  they  also  reflect  the  greater  strain  of  the  urban 
Hf»  nf  tli a  Mrn-fo  rm  fog  rm^a^  ffrfa  jc  further  empha- 
sizedJw  the  difference  in  urban  and  rural  insanity  rates  in 
thAJM^rth  a*H  South  The  Negro  insane  admitted  to  hos- 
pitals in  1910  were  as  follows :  Middle  Atlantic  States,  45.8 
per  100,000  rural  Negroes  and  115.6  for  the  same  number 
of  urban  Negroes,  South  Atlantic  States,  31.8  per  100,000 
rural  Negroes,  and  86.2  per  100,000  urban  Negroes. 

Social  and  Economic  Classes. — Migration  also  plays  its 
part  in  forming  and  redistributing  the  social  and  economic 
classes.  The  Negro  population  was  in  1860  subdivided  only 
into  farm  laborers,  artisans,  domestics  and  free  Negroes. 


156  Negro  Migration 

But  in  the  past  sixty  years  the  differing  response  to  economic 
opportunity  has  created  a  wide  range  of  Negro  classes.  In 
the  rural  districts  the  farm  laborer,  tenant  and  owner  are 
on  very  different  planes,  and  in  the  city  the  common  laborer, 
the  domestic,  the  skilled  tradesman,  the  business  man,  and 
Negro  leader  are  quite  distinct  types. 

As  the  more  energetic  atnd  successful  respond  more 
quickly  to  opportunity  and  move  toward  it,  many  of  the 
leaders  of  the  race  are  now  located  in  the  city  group.  In 
fact,  with  the  centralization  of  Negro  churches,  lodges, 
business,  and  newspapers  in  the  city,  the  leadership  of  the 
colored  people  seems  to  be  definitely  centered  in  the  urban 
districts. 

ORGANIZATION 

Agricultural  Organisation. — The  constant  shifting  of  the 
colored  population  also  has  deep  rooted  effects  on  the  organ- 
izations in  which  the  Negro  participates.  Throughout 
Part  I  the  plantation  and  other  forms  of  rural  organization 
were  considered  as  causes  of  migration,  but  the  loss  of 
population  in  turn  has  its  reaction  upon  this  rural  organiza- 
tion. It  was  noted  that  in  1865-70,  in  the  area  from  which 
the  ex-slaves  began  to  move,  many  planters  began  to  aban- 
don the  gang  labor  system,  offering  share  tenancy  as  a  basis 
for  keeping  the  Negro  contented  with  farm  life.  Simi- 
larly in  1916-17,  the  loss  of  labor  and  the  boll  weevil  reacted 
upon  the  farmers  of  Georgia,  and  in  order  to  meet  the  situ- 
ation, less  cotton  was  planted  per  hand.  With  more  diversi- 
fied food  crops  the  farmers  found  that  they  could  cultivate 
more  land  with  much  less  labor.  In  fact  the  Negro  migra- 
tion in  this  respect  is  enforcing  the  diyersificatiQiuof  agri- 
culture  and  the  introduction  of  machinery,  two  of  the  most 
needed  reforms  in  the  Cotton  Belt  system  of  cultivation. 
Though  the  shortage  of  labor  works  a  hardship  during 
the  transition  period,  in  the  long  run  its  results  will  be  bene- 
ficial, if  it  leads  to  the  termination  of  the  tyrannical  rule 


The  Results  op  Migration  157 

of  King  Cotton  over  the  Black  Belt,  and  the  establishment 
of  a  large  number  of  relatively  prosperous  small  farmers 
in  the  place  of  the  extensive  gang  labor  system  of  exploiting 
the  soil. 

But  the  change  in  farm  life  and  in  relations  between 
tenant  and  landlord  are  even  more  significant.  Labor 
troubles  discourage  many  planters  and  they  sell  out  or  rent 
their  lands.  Those  who  wish  to  retain  laborers  and  halvers 
must  make  concessions.  The  Report  of  the  Department  of 
Labor  noted  that  the  planters  who  were  most  successful 
in  holding  labor  were  those  who  accorded  the  best  treat- 
ment. The  movement  seems  to  emphasize  this  treatment 
in  the  minds  of  planters  and  renders  them  more  willing 
to  democratize  the  plantation. 

Industry. — The  most  radical  change  caused  by  the  move- 
ment since  1916  has  been  the  entry  of  some  140,000  colored 
men  in  industry.  These  are,  to  a  great  extent  concentrated 
in  eleven  large  industrial  cities.  The  cities  of  Boston,  New 
York,  Philadelphia,  Pittsburgh,  Cleveland,  Cincinnati,  De- 
troit, Indianapolis,  Chicago,  St.  Louis,  Kansas  City,  include 
about  40  per  cent  of  all  Negroes  living  outside  the  South. 
In  1920,  230  plants  employed  some  115,000  of  the  140,000 
in  manufacturing  industries.  According  to  industry,  colored 
laborers  in  the  North  were  distributed  about  as  follows: 
iron  and  steel,  40,000;  automobile,  25,000;  meat  packing, 
15,000;  Pullman  shops  and  yards,  15,000;  miscellaneous, 
40,000. 

Management  has  been  only  too  glad  to  welcome  this 
addition  to  the  labor  supply,  and  the  majority  of  employ- 
ment managers  interviewed  in  the  spring  of  1920  expressed 
themselves  as  well  pleased  with  the  results  obtained  with 
Negro  labor. 

Progress  in  industry  has,  however,  been  made  almost 
entirely  outside  the  union,  in  open  shops. 

Unskilled  laborers  predominate.  Some  plants  have  the 
definite  policy  of  not  admitting  colored  men  except  in  the 


158  Negro  Migration 

capacity  of  unskilled  laborers,  while  others  employ  as  many 
in  skilled  trades  as  apply  qualified  for  the  job,  but  state  that 
the  large  majority  are  not  qualified  for  skilled  positions. 
Still  others  hold  that  there  is  no  job  in  their  shop  which 
Negroes  cannot  fill  after  a  reasonable  apprenticeship. 

Since  management  is  so  pleased  to  have  the  Negro  added 
to  the  labor  supply,  when  Negroes  are  barred  from  jobs  for 
which  they  are  fitted  it  is  almost  always  through  the  preju- 
dice of  unions,  foremen,  or  groups  of  employees  who  have 
been  with  the  company  for  a  long  time.  In  the  present 
active  labor  market,  however,  it  seems  that  most  colored 
men  are  eventually  able  to  find  a  place  in  some  open  shop 
where  they  can  employ  all  the  skill  that  they  possess.  About 
10  per  cent  are  now  in  semi-skilled  jobs,  such  as  furnace 
repair  masons  and  tenders  of  almost  automatic  machinery. 
A  bare  five  per  cent  are  found  in  the  skilled  positions,  such 
as  truck  drivers,  stationary  and  hoisting  engineers,  foundry 
moulders,  rolling  mill  miters  and  rollers,  butchers,  skilled 
auto  body  builders  and  heat  finishers,  and  foremen.  There 
is  one  Negro  who  has  risen  to  the  position  of  chief  chemist 
of  a  large  manufacturing  plant  and  several  who  are  heads 
of  large  trucking  departments. 

There  are  numbers  of  skilled  building  tradesmen,  car- 
penters, painters,  plasterers,  and  plumbers,  who  come  up 
from  the  South  but  are  unable  to  ply  their  trade  because  of 
the  stronger  hold  of  the  unions  in  these  fields.  Such  men 
usually  accept  work  as  semi-skilled  or  unskilled  laborers 
in  industrial  plants. 

Because  progress  in  skilled  occupations  has  been  made 
almost  entirely  outside  the  unions,  in  open  shops,  labor 
leaders  often  accuse  the  Negro  of  favoring  scab  labor.  In 
fact  several  plants  used  large  numbers  of  Negroes  during 
the  recent  steel  strike.  This,  however,  is  not  always  due  to 
a  simple  tendency  to  act  as  strike-breakers. 

In  the  first  place,  the  colored  laborer  is  more  or  less  justi- 


The  Results  of  Migration  159 

fied  in  feeling  that  a  dispute  between  the  American  Federa- 
tion of  L,abor  and  management  is  none  of  his  affair  because 
there  are  very  few  local  unions  which  admit  Negroes.  Ex- 
ceptions to  this  are  to  be  found  in  scattered  trades  such  as 
the  hod  carriers,  paving  men's  and  teamster's  locals.  In 
these  occupations  there  are  so  many  Negroes  that  the  union's 
hold  on  the  trade  is  materially  weakened  if  they  are  not  in 
the  organization.  The  longshoremen  and  packing-house  em- 
ployees present  the  only  cases  of  perfect  unionization  of 
colored  labor,  and  their  organization  in  these  trades  has  been 
accomplished  almost  wholly  under  the  War  Labor  Board 
rather  than  under  peace  time  labor  leadership.  In  other 
cases  a  few  colored  men  are  admitted  to  the  union  for  the 
sake  of  appearances  and  these  are  the  last  to  be  sent  out 
on  jobs  by  master  tradesmen.  These  complaints  are  wide- 
spread among  colored  men  in  close  touch  with  the  in- 
dustrial situation  and  among  the  laborers  themselves. 

Just  before  many  strikes  there  have  been  eleventh  hour 
efforts  to  get  colored  tradesmen  into  the  organization.  In 
one  or  two  instances  it  leaked  out  that  the  naive  plan  was 
to  get  the  colored  men  in,  call  the  strike,  then  make  one  of 
their  demands  that  no  more  colored  men  be  employed. 
This  strategy  has  succeeded  in  several  instances,  notably 
in  the  strike  of  Chicago  waiters  in  1912.  As  a  result, 
when  white  union  men  strike  it  means  that  by  doing  so 
they  give  the  colored  laborer  the  first  opportunity  which 
he  has  had  to  fill  a  job  for  which  he  is  trained,  but  from 
which  he  has  been  previously  barred  by  the  very  union 
which  accuses  him  of  being  a  scab.  In  other  words,  in  case 
of  a  strike,  the  Negro  is  presented  with  the  alternative  of 
being  loyal  to  an  organization  which  has  discriminated 
against  him  or  of  exercising  his  first  and  perhaps  only  op- 
portunity to  employ  His  full  degree  of  skill.  This  puts  a 
different  aspect  on  strikebreaking. 

But  in  cases  where  Negroes  are  in  the  union  they  play  the 


160  Negro  Migration 

game.  Numerous  instances  of  individual  plant  strikes  have 
occurred  and  the  large  colored  membership  of  the  coastwise 
longshoremen's  unions  in  New  York  struck  with  the  others 
in  1920.  This  case  is,  however,  complicated  by  the  fact  that 
Negroes  are  among  the  strikers  and  among  the  strikebreak- 
ers. The  latter  are  of  the  strikebreaker  element  which 
exists  among  both  white  people  and  Negroes.  The  question 
which  arises  is:  How  are  Negro  leaders  to  reach  this  ele- 
ment and  teach  them  that  though  they  are  justified  in  taking 
places  from  which  they  have  been  barred  by  discrimination, 
they  have  not  so  much  ground  for  stepping  into  the  places 
vacated  by  unions  which  they  could  have  joined  had  they  so 
desired  ?  The  fact  that  white  labor  organizations  have  been 
so  unsuccessful  in  reaching  this  element  of  their  race  after 
such  long  continued  effort  does  not  hold  out  much  encour- 
agement to  Negro  leaders  in  seeking  to  answer  this  riddle. 
In  the  meantime  the  Negro  strikebreaker,  whether  justified 
or  unjustified  in  his  moves,  will  continue  to  cause  the  maxi- 
mum amount  of  friction  in  the  North. 

The  best  course  would,  therefore,  seem  to  be  for  the  col- 
ored man  to  stick  to  the  open  shop  in  industrial  plants  and 
to  form  the  habit  of  depending  upon  his  own  leaders  for 
aid  in  adjusting  grievances ;  and  when  this  fails  in  industry 
to  push  for  plant  organizations  of  the  type  of  the  employees 
of  the  National  Cash  Register,  and  the  Goodyear  Rubber 
Company  employees ;  to  enter  locals  in  the  building  trades 
and  similar  occupations,  when  this  course  is  possible,  or  to 
form  his  own  locals  and  convince  the  white  labor  leaders 
that  they  can  play  the  game  as  long  as  its  decent  rules  are 
observed.  Regardless  of  fair  promises  from  the  national 
labor  leaders,  as  long  as  prejudice  is  so  widespread  among 
local  unions,  it  would  seem  that  the  best  plan  is  for  the 
Negro  to  steer  clear  of  them  except  in  cases  where  he  is 
convinced  of  the  sincerity  of  their  overtures  or  is  in  posi- 
tion, by  sheer  weight  of  numbers,  to  get  a  square  deal.  Even 


The  Results  of  Migration  161 

in  the  latter  case  it  would  seem  best  for  him  to  organize  in 
separate  locals,  affiliated  with  the  white  organization. 

A  measureable  degree  of  success  has  already  been  attained 
by  following  their  own  leaders.  An  example  of  this  is 
furnished  by  the  Dining  Car  Cooks  and  Waiters'  Associa- 
tion, in  whose  organization  the  National  Negro  Urban 
LTeague  was  influential.  This  association  was^  at  first, 
purely  a  Negro  organization,  but  later  it  was  affiliated  with 
the  white  railway  workers.  Their  policy  has  been  to  co- 
operate wherever  possible  with  both  labor  organizations  and 
the  management.  Their  success  in  the  former  is  indicated 
by  their  final  affiliation  with  the  white  workers,  in  the 
latter  by  the  fact  that  several  of  the  railroads  broke  all 
precedents  in  1^20  by  allowing  the  members  time  off  to 
attend  the  annual  convention. 

Realizing  the  weakness  of  their  past  appeals  to  Negro 
labor,  the  1920  meeting  of  the  American  Federation  has 
fought  for  the  abrogation  of  clauses  restricting  the  member- 
ship to  certain  of  their  branches  to  white  labor  only.  But 
removing  this  prescription  in  charters  against  Negro  mem- 
bers and  overcoming  the  prejudice  oTthe  membership  to 
such  an  extent  that  colored  men  are  actually  admitted  to  the 
locals  are,  however,  two  entirely  different  matters.  The 
Federation  now  proposes  to  take  the  "first  step  towards  meet- 
ing this  situation  squarely  by  employing  Negro  organizers. 
It  has  passed  resolutions  to  the  effect  that  the  number  now 
used  should  be  increased.  If  this  is  actually  done  and  the 
men  are  wisely  chosen  they  cannot  only  give  local  leaders 
valuable  advice  as  to  the  proper  policies  for  organizations 
to  adopt,  but  can  also  cultivate  that  knowledge  and  sym- 
pathy against  which  prejudice  cannot  stand. 

Above  all,  in  determining  policies  of  leadership  the  col- 
ored laborer  and  the  white  union  need  to  remember  that 
the  keynote  must  be  cooperation — a  philosophy  of  which  the 
Principal  of  Tuskegee,  R.  R.  Moton,  is  the  strongest  advo- 


1 62  Negro  Migration 

cate.  The  leadership  must  be  one  which  will  determine  poli- 
cies with  due  regard  to  the  just  claims  of  colored  men,  the 
worthy  ends  of  the  union  and  the  peace  and  prosperity  of 
the  community  at  large. 

In  a  nut  shell  the  problems  of  the  Negro  in  industry,  be- 
sides those  of  wages  and  hours  are: 

(1)  To  extend  the  number  of  plants  where  he  can  work. 

(2)  To  overcome  prejudice  and  extend  the  number  of  jobs 
within  the  plant  which  he  can  fill. 

(3)  To  increase  his  efficiency  through  study,  and  applica- 
tion. 

(4)  To  develop  his  own  organization  and  leadership,  which 
will  cooperate  with  the  constructive  elements  in  the 
unions. 

Religious  Institutions. — Colored  churches  are  often  com- 
pletely ^organized  T>y  the  movement  of  population.  On 
the  other  hand,  during_Jhe  nask~aoftfrwag4-  in  1916-17, 
someof  the  citv  churches  were  severely  {axed  to  care  for 
the  rapid  addition  to  their  congregations.  In  a  survey  of  a 
typical  county  of  Georgia,  W.  B.  Hifl  outlines  the  following 
conditions  of  the  churches:5 

."Two  colored  churches  are  practically  dormant  as  one 
has  no  regular  pastor  and  only  occasional  services,  while 
the  other  has  become  a  mission  church  with  only  a  dozen 
members." 

"Practically  all  the  Negroes  claimed  membership  in  some 
church,  but  when  asked  where  their  church  was  located, 
the  investigator  would  often  be  told  that  it  was  'way  down 
in  Ogelthorpe  (County)/  The  Negroes  are  very  loath  to 
change  their  membership  from  one  church  to  another,  so 
when  they  migrate  to  Clarke  from  other  counties  they  keep 
their  membership  in  the  old  church  and  attend  services 
in  the  church  near  their  new  home." 

5  Hill,  W.  B.,  The  Negroes  of  Clarke  County,  Georgia,  Opp. 
Cit,  pp  49-51. 


The  Results  of  Migration  163 

"Of  the  17  colored  churches,  five  have  pastors  on  half 
time,  six  have  pastors  serving  2  others  or  one-third  time,  6 
have  pastors  with  3  others  or  one-fourth  time.  It  will  be 
noticed  that  while  there  is  a  large  number  of  colored 
churches  considering  the  size  and  the  population  of  the 
county,  four  of  them  have  less  than  100  members.  Some 
of  these  could  be  combined  so  as  to  have  services  three 
Sundays  every  month,  if  not  four." 

The  consideration  of  the  Negro  rural  church  therefore 
demands  an  appreciation  of  the  shifts  of  the  population  of 
its  surrounding  area, — whether  its  congregation  is  drift- 
ing away  or  whether  it  is  increasing  through  migration, 
whether  its  books  are  burdened  with  a  number  of  mem* 
bers  who  have  moved  off  and  are  attending  church  else- 
where, whether  it  has  a  large  number  of  regular  attend- 
ants who  are  members  of  distant  churches,  and  whether, 
if  it  is  shrinking  up,  it  cannot  be  combined  with  some 
neighboring  church  which  is  also  diminishing  in  impor- 
tance. 

Educational  Institutions. — One  of  the  most  noticeable 
effects  of  migration  on  Negro  schools  is  in  the  disturbance 
of  attendance.  During  the  cotton  chopping  and  picking 
months  in  the  spring  and  fall,  so  many  Negro  children 
work  in  the  fields  that  the  attendance  on  rural  schools 
dwindles  to  a  minimum.  Sometimes  there  is  a  temporary 
exodus  from  city  to  country  during  these  periods. 

While  a  large  proportion  of  migrants  are  young  single 
Negroes,  a  large  "number  alsu  move^in  families.  This 
means  "Qiat  In  Some  areas  theYe  is  a  wide  fluctuation  of 
school  population"  and  attendance  fronfone  year  to  the 
next£    In  nve  years,  some  counties  lose  as  much  as  30  per 

6  A  study  of  the  school  censuses  indicates  that  from  1908 
to  1913  the  increase  in  population  6  to  18  years  of  age  in  the 
various  counties  corresponds  rather  closely  to  the  rate  of  in- 
creas  of  the  total  population  between  1900  and  1910.  The  in- 
creases between  1913  and  1918,  however,  show  plainly  the  effects 


164  Negro  Migration 

cent  of  theirschool  population  through  migration,  while 
some-lncxeaging_counties,  gain  as  much  as  60  per  cent  in 
school  population.  Inasmuch  as  the  State  school  report 
for  1918  showed  that  2,480,  or  85  per  cent  of  the  colored 
schools  in  Georgia,  were  in  one  room  buildings,  the  tre- 
mendous burden  which  these  rapid  fluctuations  of  popu- 
lation puts  on  the  school  facilities  will  be  readily  under- 
stood. 

There  is  evidence  that  the  increase  in  colored  school 
population  and  increase  in  appropriations  for  colored 
schools  are  in  many  counties  almost  unrelated.  Exam- 
ining the  105  rural  counties  for  which  accurate  records 
of  expenditures  are  available  as  far  back  as  1908,7  the 
following  distribution  of  counties  is  obtained  for  the  period 
1908-13: 

Number  of  Counties 
Increasing         Decreasing 
Negro  School  Expenditure      Expenditure 

Population  for  Salaries        for  Salaries  Total 

Counties  Increasing  ....     55  12  67 

Counties  Decreasing   ...     29  9  38 

Total    84  21  105 

It  appears  that  there  was  a  tendency  all  over  the  State 
towards  increase  both  in  school  population  and  expenditure 
in  colored  schools,  for  67  of  the  counties  were  increasing  in 
population  and  84  increasing  in  expenditures.  It  also  ap- 
pears that  the  expenditures  for  Negro  teachers'  salaries  was 
realized  to  be  so  low  in  1908,  that  there  was  a  tendency  to 
increase  them  in  many  counties  regardless  of  whether  the 
Negro    school   population   was    increasing   or   decreasing. 

of  the  migration  of  1916-17.  Heavy  losses  in  school  population 
are  evident  in  the  sections  of  the  State  disturbed  by  the  boll 
weevil  and  the  labor  agents. 

7  Annual  School  Reports,  Georgia  State  Dep't.  of  Education, 
1908,  1913,  and  1918.  Tables  showing  colored  school  population 
and  expenditure  for  colored  teachers'  salaries. 


The  Results  of  Migration  165 

Twenty-nine  of  the  counties,  though  decreasing  in  popula- 
tion, showed  increases  in  teachers'  salaries.  To  this  extent 
the  above  figures  are  a  distinct  encouragement.  But  in  the 
twelve  counties  which  showed  an  increase  in  population  with 
a  decrease  in  expenditure  for  teachers'  salaries  the  situation 
is  reversed.  That  so  many  counties,  with  such  a  low  original 
expenditure  for  Negro  teachers'  salaries,  should  decrease 
this  amount,  though  the  Negro  children  were  increasing, 
seems  unpardonable. 

If  the  later  five-year  period,  from  1913  to  1918,  is  exam- 
ined the  following  distribution  is  obtained : 


Number  of  Counties 

Increasing 

Decreasing 

Number  of 

Expenditure 

Expenditure 

Counties 

for  Salaries 

for  Salaries 

Total 

Counties  Increasing  . 

...     36 

16 

52 

Counties    Decreasing. 

...     38 

15 

53 

Total    

...     74 

31 

105 

During  this  period  the  disturbance  of  the  population  in  the 
movement  of  1916-17  caused  a  few  more  counties  to  de- 
crease in  colored  children.  Of  the  53  counties  decreasing  in 
population,  38  continued  to  increase  their  provision  for  teach- 
ers' salaries  in  colored  schools.  But  of  the  52  counties  in- 
creasing in  colored  school  population  16  (decreased  the 
amount  provided  for  colored  teachers.  It  is  interesting  to 
note,  however,  that  none  of  the  12  counties  which,  during 
the  period  1908-13,  decreased  their  expenditures  for  colored 
schools  despite  an  increase  in  colored  population  were  still 
pursuing  this  policy  during  the  period  1913-18.  All  of  these 
12  counties  began  to  make  substantial  increases  in  their  col- 
ored teachers'  salaries,  even  though  9  of  them  began  to  de- 
crease in  colored  population  during  the  second  period.  The 
16  counties  which,  during  the  second  period,  were  decreasing 
their  expenditure  for  colored  teachers'  salaries  though  in- 
creasing in  population,  are  a  separate  group  from  the  12  of 


1 66  Negro  Migration 

the  first  period.  All  but  3  of  these  28  counties,  which 
during  one  of  the  two  periods,  pursued  this  policy,  have 
substantial  Negro  majorities  in  their  population.  The  pro- 
cess therefore  seems  to  be  one  of  subjecting  the  already 
overcrowded  Negro  rural  schools  of  the  Black  Belt  to  fur- 
ther crowding  in  order  to  provide  much  needed  facilities 
for  the  more  scattered  white  population  of  these  counties. 
The  substantial  number  of  counties  which,  during  both 
periods,  increased  their  expenditure  for  Negro  schools  re- 
gardless of  decreases  in  the  Negro  population,  may  be  said  to 
indicate  an  increasing  tendency  in  the  majority  of  communi- 
ties to  do  justice  to  the  Negro  schools.  The  substantial  in- 
creases in  expenditure  for  Negro  teachers'  salaries  after 
some  counties  had  lost  heavily  by  the  migration  of  1916-17, 
and  after  the  Negro's  complaint  against  his  school  facilities 
had  been  forcefully  brought  to  the  attention  of  County 
school  boards,  doubtless  indicates  the  effort  on  the  part  of 
these  boards  to  do  their  share  towards  checking  the  move- 
ment by  rendering  belated  justice  to  the  schools. 

RACE  RELATIONS 

Areas  Losing  by  Migration. — In  districts  from  which 
the  Negro  is  moving  the  general  effect  seems  to  be  a  lessen- 
ing of  race  prejudice.  People  who  do  not  go  below  the  sur- 
face accuse  the  Negro  of  restlessness  and  unreliability,  but 
the  general  effect  on  white  people  of  the  discussion  which 
accompanies  the  movement  seems  to  be  to  center  their 
attention  on  the  factors  which  make  for  the  discontent  of 
the  colored  population,  and  to  emphasize  the  justice  of 
some  of  the  complaints  of  the  Negro.  Again  race  preju- 
dice seems  to  diminish  as  the  proportion  of  the  Negroes 
in  the  total  population  becomes  smaller.  The  migration 
of  Negroes  from  the  Black  Belt  areas  and  the  resultant 
increasing  percentage  of  white  people  in  the  total  population 
relieves  the  fear  of  Negro  domination.  Perhaps  the  passing 
of  the  old-fashioned  demagogue,  who  could  so  easily  make 


The  Results  of  Migration  167 

political  capital  by  playing  upon  this  fear  in  the  minds  of 
the  ignorant  voters  in  very  black  districts,  is,  in  part,  due  to 
the  dispersion  of  Negro  population  and  the  increasing  pro- 
portion of  white  people  in  almost  every  Southern  com- 
munity. 

Areas  Gaining  by  Migration. — In  areas  gaining  by  migra- 
tion, prejudice  seems,  at  least  temporarily,  to  assume  its 
most  aggravR^  forme  Tl1fMnfYirfirnpr>t  0f  population  since 
the  Civil  War  has  done  much  to  break  down  that  personal 
rplatmngm'p  hptwppn  fami%s  Qf  ex-slave  owners  and  ex- 
slaves  which  has  been  such  a  potpnt  mflaCQCCi  maintaining 
white  sympathy  for  the  Negro's  problems  and  stimulating 
mutual-aid*  Many  of  these  Southern  white  people  with  the 
best  ante-bellum  traditions  were  the  most  understanding  and 
sympathetic  friends  of  the  colored  people.  In  areas  gaining 
by  mjgration,  white  people  and  colored  people  who  are 
strangers  to  one  another  come  together  without  the  ante- 
bellum  traditions.  More  or  less  competition  and  race  fric- 
tioiLjesults.  In  the  most  extreme  casjj^dll»*takes  the  form 
of  riots  such  as  those  of  Atlanta^n  1908,  oj  the  recent 
riots  in  Northern  cities.  It  also  impears  in^fce  increased 
tendency  towards  segregation  i",  Northern  r.itipg.  This  is 
especially  evident  in  the  schools  and  social  agencies  of  Phila- 
delphia, Chicago,  St  Louis  and  a  number  of  Ohio  cities. 

On  the  other  hand,  in  moving  out  of  the  Black  Belt  into 
these  "whiter"  areas,  the  Negroes  are  more  interspersed  with 
a  white  population.  They  have  more  chance  to  observe  pro- 
gressive farming  and  industrial  methods  and  attain  a  higher 
standard  ot  living,  and  tney  are~m"a  position  to  benefit  by 
the' better  roads  and  piiblic"works  of  the  areas  which  have 
a  larger  population  ot  white  people  in  the  population,  and  a 
higher,  per  capita  wealth. 

This  brief  sketch  of  the  effects  of  migration  on  Negro 
problems  indicates  its  wide  influence.  The  Negro  popula- 
tion has  changed  so  rapidly  during  the  past  50  years,  and  bids 
fair  to  continue  to  change  so  rapidly,  that  the  student  of  any 


1 68  Negro  Migration 

problem  of  Negro  population,  institutions,  or  race  relations 
would  do  well  to  bear  in  mind  constantly  the  tendency  to 
change  and  make  allowance  for  this  tendency  in  reaching 
his  conclusions,  otherwise  the  result  of  a  study  made  at  a 
stated  time  may  lead  to  conclusions  which  are  true  enough 
for  the  time,  but  which  are  completely  altered  a  few  months 
afterward.  This  is  to  be  considered  in  all  surveys,  for 
migration  is  not  only  constantly  changing  the  distribution 
of  Negro  population,  but  as  this  chapter  indicates,  it  is 
also  constantly  changing  the  sex  composition,  fecundity, 
vitality,  crime  and  insanity  rates,  economic  organization, 
religious  and  educational  institutions,  and  relations  with  the 
white  group. 

The  effects  of  migration  also  vitiate  comparisons  between 
sections  of  the  country  unequally  affected  unless  these  effects 
are  known  and  unless  allowance  is  made  for  them. 


CONCLUSION 

SUMMARY 

On  the  whole,  there  is  no  cause  for  pessimism  regarding 
the  shift  of  Negro  population,  nor  can  the  recent  rapid 
migration  be  said  to  indicate  the  influence  of  any  essentially 
new  forces.  The  movements  arose  in  the  Black  Belt  in  1865, 
precipitated  the  breakdown  of  the  old  gang  labor  plantations, 
and  have  continued  in  more  or  less  steady  streams  of  mi- 
grants from  the  original  Cottnn  Kelt  rnnn ties.  The  break- 
down of  labor  plantations  has  progressed  with  varying  rap- 
idity in  the  different  parts  of  the  South.  Though  many  of 
the  old  plantations  are  still  owned  by  one  man,  most  of  them 
are  subdivided  into  tenant  farms  and  cultivated  only  in  part 
by  labor.  The  remainder  are  cultivated  entirely  by  tenants. 
Many  Negroes  have  also  become  independent  owners  of 
farms. 

The  only  group  of  rising  Negro  farmers  which  is  distinctly 
dangerous  to  the  economic  life  of  the  community  is  the 
independent  Negro  renter  on  the  land  of  absentee  landlords. 
In  farming  efficiency  there  seems  to  be  little  difference  be- 
tween the  community  of  gang  labor,  or  share  tenant  plan- 
tations, and  the  community  of  Negro  owners  or  supervised 
renters.  The  social  structure  of  the  community  is,  on  the 
other  hand,  greatly  strengthened  by  the  element  of  inde- 
pendent Negro  farmers  with  their  higher  standard  of  living, 
greater  attachment  to  the  land,  and  greater  ability  to  act 
as  leaders. 

The  movement  of  rural  population  before  1910  was  pre- 
dominantly a  shift  from  the  plantation  area  to  other  rural 
districts  of  greater  agricultural  opportunity.  Incident  to  this 
movement,  however,  there  has  been  a  growth  of  Negro 
town  and  city  populations.     The  growth  in  villages  and 


170  Negro  Migration 

towns  has  been  especially  marked.  These  small  centers  are 
becoming  more  and  more  important  in  the  colored  population 
because  of  the  rate  at  which  Negroes  move  through  them 
into  the  town  or  city  and  because  of  the  influence  of  their 
leaders  and  institutions  upon  the  Negroes  in  the  open  coun- 
try. Very  recently  a  number  ol  cities  in  the  Cotton  Belt 
have  grown  rapidly.  When  a  city  begins  to  grow  through 
manufacturing  and  distributing  enterprises  rather  than  by 
enterprises  solely  dependent  upon  the  surrounding  country 
districts,  its  white  population  increases  much  faster  than  its 
colored  population.  Still,  the  Negro  is  attracted  to  these 
places  by  the  proportionate  increase  of  domestic  service  and 
common  labor  opportunities  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  pro- 
fessional, mercantile  and  race  leadership  opportunities  on 
the  other.  These  cities,  therefore,  have  substantial  and  in- 
creasingly important  Negro  populations. 

Northern  cities  were  increasing  at  a  fairly  rapid  rate 
through  migration  of  Negroes  before  1910.  but  the  migrants 
came  mostly  from  the  Border  States.  The, Cotton  States 
were  exchanging  population  among  themselves.  With  the 
exception  of  the  Southward  movement  into  Florida,  this 
movement  among  the  Cotton  States  was  Westward.  After 
1910,  however,  and  especially  after  the  outbreak  of  the  Euro- 
pean War,  opportunity  in  the  industrial  sections  of  the  North 
was  not  only  greatly  increased,  but  agricultural  opportunity 
in  the  Gulf  Coast  States  was  nullified  by  poor  crops,  floods, 
and  the  cotton  boll  weevil.  The  movement  since  1915, 
therefore,  has  been  Northward. 

Desire  for  superior  earning  power,  standard  of  living  and 
standing  in  the  community,  enjoyed  by  the  higher  tenant 
classes  has  been  the  chief  cause  of  movement  from  one  rural 
district  to  another,  but  the  superior  advantages  of  the  city 
have  attracted  large  numbers  to  urban  districts.  These 
social  advantages  in  the  housing,  protection,  schools  and 
churches  of  the  city  play  an  increasingly  important  part  in 
the  movement  from  country  to  city  and  from   South  to 


Summary  171 

North.  The  recent  rapid  movement  has  caused  extended 
discussion  among  the  Negroes  of  their  social  grievances, 
and,  with  the  development  of  a  distinct  group  feeling,  these 
causes  may  be  expected  to  play  an  even  greater  part  in 
future  movements. 

This  disturbance  of  population  aggravates  many  of  the 
Negro  problems  and  general  community  welfare  problems. 
Domestic  service  opportunities  attracting  the  females  in  one 
direction,  and  agricultural  and  industrial  opportunities  at- 
tracting the  males  in  another,  upset  the  normal  ratio  between 
the  sexes  in  communities  affected  by  migration.  There  re- 
sults a  low  marriage  rate  with  its  attendant  low  birth  rate 
and  increase  in  immorality.  The^  rise  in  the  standard  of 
living  which  follows  the  change  from  the  simple  life  of  the 
country  to  the  complex  life  of  the  city  also  reacts  toward 
IpgQ^ning  the  size  of  family,  especially  in  North  cities. 
While  the  Negro  escapes  from  some  diseases  to  which  he  is 
subject  in  the  South,  he  exposes  himself  to  the  rigors  of 
the  Northern  climate,  and  probably  suffers  a  slightly  higher 
death  rate  in  the  North.  This  low  birth  rate  and  high 
death  rate  mean  that  northern  Negro  populations,  under 
the  present  conditions,  are  not  self-sustaining  and  in  order 
to  continue  they  must  receive  constant  replacements  from 
the  South.  The  upset  of  families  and  the  strain  of  city 
life  also  increase  the  crime,  insanity,  and  dependency  rates. 

Though  migration  creates  conditions  unfavorable  to  vi- 
tality and  morality,  the  general  trend  of  the  movement  is 
towards  better  institutions.  Not  only  does  the  Negro  obtain 
better  schools  and  churches  by  leaving  the  Black  Belt  areas, 
but  by  moving  he  also  calls  the  attention  of  the  South  to  his 
complaints  against  the  existing  institutions  and  creates  an 
additional  interest  in  improving  them. 

Race  relations,  on  the  other  hand,  are  very  often  badly 
strained  in  communities  receiving-  a  rapid  increase  by  migra- 
tion. It  is  Hera  thnt  nre  prpji|difg_has  been  manifested  most 
cruelly^  But  even  in  these  communities  the  Negro  finds 


172  Negro  Migration 

better  institutions  and  a  fuller  participation  in  the  commu- 
nity  life.  In  the  communities  from  which  Negroes  move 
the  relief  from  the  fear  of  race  riots  and  the  emphasis 
which  the  movement  gives  to  the  justice  of  many  of  the 
Negro's  claims  for  better  treatment  lessens  race  prejudice. 
The  dispersion  of  the  Negro  population  brings  larger  oppor- 
tunities for  learning  the  white  man's  methods  and  standard 
of  living  through  observation. 

CONSTRUCTIVE  MEASURES 

The  complications  arising  from  the  movement  of  Negroes 
while  serious  are,  therefore,  not  grounds  for  undue  pessim- 
ism. In  communities  gaining  by  migration  many  of  the 
difficulties  can  be  alleviated  by  energetic  measures  to  adjust 
the  migrant  in  industry,  to  correct  his  abnormal  health  con- 
ditions and  family  life,  and  to  develop  a  community  ac- 
quaintanceship to  take  the  place  of  the  lost  personal  rela- 
tionship, which  existed  in  the  ante-bellum  South.  In  the 
communities  losing  by  migration  the  first  need  is  to  so  or- 
ganize agriculture  and  industry  that,  where  Negro  labor  is 
needed,  high  wage  offers  elsewhere  may  be  met  with  pro- 
portionate increases.  The  second  need  is  for  a  fuller  reali- 
zation of  the  necessity  of  a  more  just  policy  towards  the 
Negro  in  community  relations  and  a  more  energetic  pro- 
gram of  fostering  this  justice.  Unless  effort  is  made  to 
alleviate  the  social  grievances  of  the  Negro,  no  amount  of 
effort  to  alleviate  economic  injustices  is  going  to  stop  the 
movement. 

This  statement  of  the  needs  of  communities  is  rather  gen- 
eral. A  number  of  very  concrete  constructive  measures 
which  have  been  tested  and  which  seem  to  be  meeting  the 
actual  needs  in  a  very  hopeful  way  may  be  cited. 

The  movement  of  population  has  emphasized  the  fact  that 
there  are  three  factors  to  be  considered  in  race  relations — 
the  Negro  himself,  the  South  and  the  North.  The  great  need 
for  sympathy,  understanding  and  constructive  leadership 


Constructive  Measures  173 

among  these  three  parties  to  race  adjustment  was  urged  by 
the  report  of  Negro  Education  in  the  United  States,  even  be- 
fore the  great  migration  Northward.  Now,  since  so  many 
Negroes  live  in  the  North,  their  problems  are  more  than  ever 
national  rather  than  sectional. 

Federal  Government. — It  is  but  natural  and  logical,  with 
the  passing  of  strong  sectional  feeling  on  the  Negro  question, 
that  the  Federal  Government,  through  its  various  bureaus 
should  inaugurate  programs  of  research  and  Federal  aid. 

( 1 )  The  exhaustive  first  hand  study  of  Negro  Education, 
made  cooperatively  by  the  Bureau  of  Education  and  the 
Phelps-Stokes  Fund,  was  a  good  beginning  in  the  organiza- 
tion of  nation-wide  programs  for  increasing  the  efficiency  of 
Negro  education.  This  should  be  followed  up  by  an  appro- 
priation from  Congress  to  the  Bureau  of  Education  for 
permanent  work  in  Negro  education  with  a  staff  of  spe- 
cialists capable  of  research  and  helpful  advice. 

(2)  As  a  result  of  the  interest  of  the  Secretary  of  L,abor 
in  the  Negro  migration  of  1916-17,  and  of  the  survey  of  the 
movement  made  directly  under  the  office  of  the  Assistant 
Secretary,  a  Bureau  of  Negro  Economics  was  established  in 
the  Department  of  L,abor.  A  staff  of  colored  investigators 
has  been  maintained,  both  in  Washington  and  in  the  field. 
These  men  did  excellent  work  in  keeping  in  touch  with  the 
wages,  hours,  living  conditions  and  special  problems  of  the 
Negro  wage  earners  and  were  able  to  cooperate  effectively 
with  the  various  State  Departments  of  Labor.  This  work, 
begun  as  a  war  measure,  should  without  a  doubt  be  con- 
tinued. A  special  significance  attaches  to  this  work  be- 
cause it  was  begun  by  a  Democratic  administration  on  a 
non-partisan  basis. 

(3)  As  a  counterpart  to  this  work  among  the  Negroes  in 
industry,  the  Federal  Department  of  Agriculture  should 
have  similar  research  and  advisory  specialists  concerned  with 
the  Negro  in  agriculture.  Although  all  of  the  farm  demon- 
stration work  in  the  South,  and  all  Southern  problems 


174  Negro  Migration 

worked  on  by  the  Office  of  Farm  Management  are  vitally 
concerned  with  the  Negro,  there  is  nowhere,  in  the  vast  or- 
ganization of  the  Department  of  Agriculture,  in  Washington, 
a  colored  specialist  who  can  concentrate  on  the  problems  of 
the  3,000,000  Negro  farmers. 

In  their  chief  need — that  of  so  organizing  agriculture  that 
better  wages  can  be  paid  and  a  profit  still  realized — com- 
munities are  directly  aided  by  the  campaign  of  the  States 
Relation  Service  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture,  and  its 
corps  of  farm  demonstration  agents  in  the  field.  Any  pro- 
grams for  rural  improvement  can  be  greatly  aided  by  this 
force  of  earnest,  technically  trained,  local  agricultural  lead- 
ers and  the  work  they  are  doing  to  promote  farming  effi- 
ciency is  of  sterling  character.  The  number  of  Negro 
farm  demonstrators  should  be  increased.  There  is,  however, 
another  phase  of  rural  life  to  which  as  yet  comparatively 
little  attention  has  been  paid.  This  is  the  field  of  contacts, 
other  than  the  mere  wage  or  rental  relationship,  between 
landlord  and  tenant.  The  need  in  this  field  is  for  demo- 
cratizing the  plantation  as  some  industries  have  been  demo- 
cratized. Almost  all  close  observers  of  the  movement  from 
rural  districts  testify  to  the  ability  of  certain  planters  to  hold 
their  labor  supply  even  in  the  midst  of  a  much  disturbed 
area.  In  a  majority  of  instances  these  planters  owe  their 
success  not  only  to  satisfactory  wages,  but  also  to  attention 
to  items  of  tenant  welfare.  Housing,  stimulation  of  fruit 
raising,  gardening  and  animal  husbandry,  interest  and  advice 
in  local  leadership  and  family  affairs,  and  aid  for  local 
churches  and  schools  are  among  the  methods  used  by  land- 
lords to  make  their  laborers  and  tenants  feel  that  the  rela- 
tionship is  one  more  vital  than  a  matter  of  dollars  and  cents. 
Above  all  these  planters  emphasize  an  attitude  of  even- 
handed  justice  in  contracts  and  accounts  rather  than  the 
paternalistic  attitude  of  the  past.'  They  have  realized  they 
are  paying  earned  wages  not  giving  gratuities. 

The  plantation  and  the  community  of  small  independent 


Constructive  Measures  175 

farmers  have  marvelous  possibilities  as  social  units — units  of 
rural  organization,  which,  with  the  aid  and  interest  of  the 
thoughtful  local  white  leaders  and  landowners  could,  like  the 
European  cooperatives,  develop  their  own  credit  system  and 
by  the  exercise  of  thrift  rid  themselves  of  the  crop  mort- 
gage and  high  credit  prices  in  a  year  or  two.  They  could 
increase  individual  efficiency  wonderfully  by  mutual  aid  in 
the  purchase  of  the  more  expensive  agricultural  implements, 
and  by  cooperative  culture  and  marketing.  They  would 
form  the  basis  of  a  more  healthy  social  life  and  could  de- 
velop the  local  institutions  to  such  a  point  that  they  would 
be  really  vital  parts  of  the  community  life.  In  research  along 
these  lines,  observation  of  the  methods  of  the  most  success- 
ful communities  and  dissemination  of  knowledge  of  these 
methods  among  all  communities,  the  Department  of  Agricul- 
ture has  the  opportunity  to  round  out  its  program  of  farm 
demonstration,  so  efficiently  begun,  and  to  develop  a  rural 
organization  which  will  allay  much  of  the  present  discontent. 

(4)  Industry. — Among  the  employers  there  is  a  need  in 
industry  for  the  same  spirit  of  even-handed  justice  which 
is  needed  in  agriculture.  In  addition,  in  the  North  there 
should  be  fairness  in  hiring  and  firing,  especially  during 
a  period  of  unemployment. 

In  the  interests  of  industrial,  as  well  as  inter-racial  peace, 
Negro  leaders  should  do  all  in  their  power  to  reduce  the 
numbers  of  the  strikebreaker  element  in  their  race. 

If  the  American  Federation  of  Labor  is  to  live  up  to  its 
claims  of  non-discrimination  and  do  its  part  towards  the 
problem  of  the  Negro  in  industry,  the  policy  of  local  unions 
of  refusing  to  admit  Negroes  or  to  allow  colored  locals  to 
be  organized  must  be  changed.  Until  this  time  it  would 
seem  that  the  best  course  for  the  Negro  is  to  develop  his 
own  organization  so  as  to  approach  the  unions  with  a  solid 
front.  Some  good  work  along  this  line  has  been  done  by 
the  National  Urban  League.  Movements  of  this  type  are 
to  be  highly  commended. 


176  Negro  Migration 

(5)  Churches. — There  is  a  great  need  for  an  approach 
to  race  relations  in  the  Christian  spirit  of  common  human- 
ity. This  spirit  should  pervade  all  phases  of  the  activities 
of  denominations.  Tn  organization,  there  is  a  need  for  a 
unified  policy  towards  the  colored  people,  for  closer  rela- 
tionship between  the  white  and  colored  denominations  in 
their  governing  councils  and  in  the  local  federations  of 
churches.  Among  the  clergy  there  is  need  for  a  freer  and 
more  courageous  expression  of  an  enlightened  viewpoint  to- 
wards race  relations, — a  change  from  the  policy  of  silence 
which,  at  present,  renders  it  more  than  probable  that  people 
may  be  members  of  congregations  in  the  South  for  years 
without  ever  hearing  a  word  from  the  pulpit  on  this  im- 
portant phase  of  community  life.  Among  the  laymen  there 
is  need  for  a  keener  and  more  active  interest  in  the  home 
mission  activities  for  colored  people.  There  is  a  general 
need  throughout  all  churches  for  a  return  to  the  spirit  of 
the  old  South,  which  manifested  a  real  and  active  interest 
in  the  religious  welfare  of  the  colored  people. 

Private  Philanthropy. — (6)  Private  philanthropy  will 
always  have  an  important  function  to  perform  in  race  rela- 
tions. Democracies  are  always  slow  and  have  to  be  shown. 
Private  initative  must  demonstrate  the  value  of  new  mea- 
sures, before  the  majority  adopts  them.  Just  as  the  General 
Education  Board  experimented  with  and  demonstrated  the 
value  of  county  farm  demonstration  agents  before  their  work 
was  taken  over  to  the  Department  of  Agriculture,  and  like- 
wise with  expert  supervisors  of  colored  schools  before  these 
officers  were  included  in  Southern  State  Departments  of 
Education,  just  as  the  Phelps-Stokes  Fund  could  devote 
its  energy  and  resources  to  a  much  needed  nationwide  sur- 
vey of  Negro  education,  and  just  as  the  Jeanes  and  Slater 
Funds  have  so  thoroughly  demonstrated  the  need  for  indus- 
trial and  teacher  training  work  in  public  schools.  The 
National  Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Colored 
People  for  legal  aid,  and  the  National  Urban  League  for 


Constructive  Measures  177 

colored  industrial  relations  worker  and  social  workers,  so, 
always,  will  there  be  experiments  to  make  and  trials  to 
blaze,  which  will  call  for  private  initiative.  The  unselfish 
devotion  of  time  as  well  as  money  to  making  programs 
"go"  is  especially  needed  in  the  local  communities. 

State  Governments. — The  most  pressing  problems  con- 
fronting Southern  State  Governments  are  those  of  sanita- 
tion, schools  and  protection  from  violence  and  injustice  in 
the  courts. 

(7)  As  a  preliminary  to  intelligent  improvement  of  health 
the  registration  of  births  and  deaths  should  be  enforced  as 
strictly  as  possible,  and  State  Departments  of  Health  with 
administrative,  as  well  as  research,  functions  should  be  de- 
veloped. Among  the  Southern  States  only  Virginia  and 
North  Carolina  are  approximating  this  ideal.  Communities 
owe  it  not  only  to  the  Negro,  but  also  to  themselves  to  know 
more  of  the  conditions  which  make  for  a  high  mortality  rate 
and  of  the  measures  for  eliminating  these  conditions. 

(8)  Communities  should  cease  allowing  a  few  profiteer- 
ing landlords  to  endanger  the  lives  of  both  white  and  black 
citizens.  A  full  realization  of  the  menace  which  the  bad 
housing  and  congestion  in  Negro  districts  is  to  the  health  of 
the  whole  community  should  bring  with  it  much  stricter 
state  and  city  laws  regarding  rental  property,  enforced  by 
a  Department  of  Health  with  powers  of  condemnation. 

(9)  Almost  all  the  Southern  State  Departments  of  Edu- 
cation, through  the  aid  of  the  General  Education  Board, 
now  have  an  efficient  white  school-man  as  supervisor  of  col- 
ored schools.  So  many  of  the  ills  of  Negro  schools  are  cur- 
able by  efficient  supervision  that  the  work  of  these  men  has 
been  of  tremendous  value  to  the  South.  Their  influence 
should  be  extended  by  the  provision  of  assistants  and  local 
supervisors,  to  work  under  their  direction.  The  detailed 
needs  of  colored  schools  set  forth  in  the  Report  of  the 
the  Bureau  of  Education  and  the  Phelps  Stokes  Fund  on 
Negro  Education  should  be  attended  to  as  rapidly  as  pos- 
sible.   The  recommendations  as  to  state  aid  for  high  schools, 


178  Negro  Migration 

and  for  industrial  and  teacher  training  work  are  especially 
urgent. 

(10)  Lynching  has  been  scathingly  condemned  by  organi- 
zations representing  the  woman's  clubs,  the  universities, 
Inter-racial  Committees,  governor's  conventions  and  the 
press  of  the  Southern  States.  Certainly,  if  the  opinion  of 
the  better  classes  is  so  outspoken  in  its  disapproval  of  these 
outrages,  the  State  governments  should  be  empowered  to 
quell  the  outbreaks  of  the  more  unruly  elements  of  the 
population.  Several  states  have  passed  laws  in  regard  to 
lynching  recently.  Their  success  will  depend  upon  the 
courage  of  State  officials.  This  subject  was  not  mentioned 
in  connection  with  the  federal  government  because  it  would 
seem  necessary  to  change  the  constitutional  powers  of  fed- 
eral courts  rather  radically  before  they  could  deal  with  this 
menace. 

(11)  Many  of  the  complaints  of  the  Negro  against  un- 
just arrests  and  convictions  would  be  met  by  the  abolition 
of  the  system  of  payment  of  fees  to  local  officials  on  the 
basis  of  the  number  of  arrests  they  make  and  the  conse- 
quent cooling  of  their  ardor  for  filling  the  local  jails.  A 
second  evil  which  is  said  to  contribute  to  lengthening  sen- 
tences is  the  convict  lease  system,  or  the  system  of  allowing 
counties  to  use  their  own  convicts  on  their  roads.  Local 
judicial  officers  should  be  able  to  sentence  men  only  to  in- 
stitutions controlled  by  the  State  and  operated  in  accord- 
ance with  the  modern  methods  of  penology,  and  the  practice 
of  sentencing  to  county  chain-gangs  should  be  abolished. 

(12)  Much  of  the  high  crime  rate  among  Negroes  is 
undoubtedly  due  to  neglected  or  improperly  handled  juvenile 
delinquency.  University  of  Georgia  graduates  in  Atlanta 
and  Savannah  with  colored  assistants  have  inaugurated  ex- 
cellent work  with  Negro  juvenile  offenders.  As  yet,  how- 
ever, there  is  no  State  reformatory.  Virginia,  Maryland 
and  South  Carolina  are  the  only  States  with  State  Colored 
Reform  Schools  worthy  of  the  name.    State  reformatories 


Constructive  Measures  179 

and  city  probation  officers  for  colored  juvenile  offenders 
are  greatly  needed  throughout  the  South. 

Local  Communities. — Though  the  need  is  pressing  for  the 
adoption  of  these  policies  by  the  Federal  Government,  pri- 
vate philanthropic  agencies,  the  State  Governments,  and 
industries,  the  crucial  needs  must  be  met  by  the  patient  and 
sympathetic  effort  of  the  white  and  colored  leaders  in  local 
communities.  Although  successful  programs  of  community 
welfare  are  more  efficient  with  central  organization  and  ex- 
pert supervisors,  no  amount  of  this  overhead  work  can 
relieve  the  people  of  the  local  communities  of  the  responsi- 
bility for  the  public  opinion  and  local  machinery  through 
which  these  programs  must  be  worked  out.  No  amount  of 
state  supervision  can  give  to  a  community  sound  institutions 
unless  the  community  itself  is  alive  to  the  need  for  them. 

(13)  For  this  reason  it  is  extremely  unfortunate  that  so 
large  a  proportion  of  newspaper  articles  dealing  with  the 
Negro  treat  only  criminal  or  humorous  news.  It  is  impos- 
sible for  the  Southern  communities  to  know  the  real  happen- 
ings among  their  colored  population  from  reading  the  local 
papers  and  equally  as  impossible  for  them  to  know  of 
progress  of  the  larger  movements  for  improvement  of  race 
relations.  Nor  is  it  possible  under  such  conditions  to  de- 
velop an  enlightened  public  opinion  on  the  subject.  Since 
the  recent  migration  some  of  the  northern  papers  have 
adopted  this  short-sighted  policy.  Even  such  a  former 
staunch  friend  of  the  Negro  as  the  Chicago  Tribune  is 
widely  known  as  a  trouble  maker  because  of  its  sensational 
treatment  of  inter-racial  matters.  The  Negroes  are  thrown 
back  on  papers  published  by  members  of  their  own  race, 
and  the  larger  and  larger  group  of  Negroes  who  read  are 
almost  entirely  dependent  upon  more  or  less  destructive 
newspapers  for  news. 

This  anomaly  of  two  groups  living  side  by  side  in  the 
same  town,  with  different  organs  of  group  opinion  and 
differences,  which  make  for  friction,  or  at  least  misunder- 


180  Negro  Migration 

standing,  could  be  in  a  measure  corrected  by  local  editors 
if  they  would  give  thought  and  effort  to  a  Negro  department 
in  their  paper.  By  treating  seriously  the  local  news  among 
the  colored  population,  the  paper  would  form  a  real  bond 
between  the  Negroes  and  the  community.  In  noting  the 
items  of  progress  in  race  relations,  keeping  the  constructive 
movements  before  the  leaders  of  both  races,  and  creating 
a  sound  public  opinion  on  the  various  puzzling  topics  of  race 
relations,  they  would  do  a  genuine  community  service. 

(14)  Every  local  community  should  learn  of  its  own 
responsibility  for  sanitation  in  its  Negro  settlements, 
justice  in  its  courts,  law  and  order  among  its  inhabitants, 
and  a  good  school,  good  churches  and  recreation  facilities 
for  all  its  people,  whether  white  or  black. 

The  first  step  towards  accomplishing  this  is  the  founda- 
tion of  a  community  committee  such  as  has  been  formed  in 
the  counties  of  the  South  by  the  Southern  Inter-Racial 
Committee.  These  committees  are  composed  of  white  and 
colored  leaders  who  can  trust  one  another  and  who  meet 
and  work  together  on  the  problems  involving  race  relations. 
These  men  not  only  are  able  to  avoid  inter-racial  discord, 
but  are  in  a  position  to  forward  constructive  programs  by 
modifying  them  so  as  to  more  nearly  fit  the  needs  of  the 
colored  population,  and  by  arousing  the  interest  of  the  col- 
ored population  in  their  execution.  In  large  cities,  this 
inter-racial  idea  can  be  carried  further  to  include  placing 
colored  workers  on  the  staffs  of  the  city  associated  chari- 
ties, visiting  nurses  associations,  probation  offices,  etc. 
These  workers  are  being  trained  in  larger  and  larger  num- 
bers, and  are  peculiarly  capable  of  handling  the  special 
problems  of  case  work  among  the  members  of  their  race. 

In  meeting  this  responsibility,  communities  will  not  only 
create  a  saner  community  life,  but  will  also  share  in  the 
task  of  working  out  a  program  under  which  two  races  may 
live  side  by  side  without  conflict — a  task  in  which  the  dem- 
ocracy of  the  United  States  is  being  tested,  while  the  civil- 
ized nations  of  the  world  who  are  "bearing  the  white  man's 
burden"  in  Africa  look  on,  hoping  to  be  aided  by  our 
experience. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 
1. — General 

Bibliography  of  the  Negro  American.  Atlanta  University 
Publication  No.  10,  Atlanta,  1905. 

Bibliography  of  Negroes.    U.  S.  Congr.  L,ib.  324. 

The  Negro  Yearbook.  A  "World's  Almanac"  of  the  Negro 
in  the  United  States,  edited  annually  by  Monroe  N. 
Work,  Department  of  Records  and  Research,  Tuskegee 
Institute. 

Annual  Reports  of  the  Southern  Sociological  Congress, 
Jeanes  Fund,  Slater  Fund,  and  General  Education 
Board,  contain  valuable  data. 

Atlanta  University  Publications.  Bulletins  of  Atlanta  Uni- 
versity. Valuable  contributions  to  Negro  problems  ap- 
pearing annually  as  proceedings  of  the  University  Con- 
ference and  researches  of  the  Department  of  Sociology. 

Baker,  Ray  Stannard:  Following  the  Color  Line.  New 
York :  Doubleday,  Page  &  Company,  1908.  A  sugges- 
tive description  of  race  relations  written  in  a  popular 
vein. 

Boas,  Franz:  The  Mind  of  Primitive  Man.  New  York: 
The  MacMillan  Co.,  1911.  A  scientific  analysis  of  the 
factor  of  racial  heredity. 

Census,  U.  Si,  1900,  Bulletin  No.  8.    Negroes  in  the  U.  S. 

Census,  U.  S.,  1910,  Bulletin  129.    Negroes  in  the  U.  S. 

Census,  U.  S.,  1919,  Special  Report,  Negro  Population  in 
the  U.  S.,  1790-1915.  An  extremely  valuable  compila- 
tion of  data.  It  contains  many  tabulations  not  to  be 
found  elsewhere  in  the  Census  volumes. 

Cutler,  J.  E. :  Lynch  Law.  New  York :  Longmans,  Green 
&  Co.,  1905.  The  most  complete  treatment  of  this 
subject. 

DuBois,  W.  E.  B. :  The  Souls  of  Black  Folk.  Chicago : 
A.  C.  McClurg  &  Co.,  1903  and  Darkwater,  New  York : 
Harcourt,  Brace  and  Howe,  1920.  These  give  a  side 
of  race  relations  which  should  be  known.  They  are 
remarkably  written  introspective  accounts  of  the  im- 
pressions of  a  colored  man,  but  are  extremely  pessi- 
mistic. 


1 82  Bibliography 

Evans,  Maurice  S. :  White  and  Black  in  the  Southern 
States.  L,ondon:  L,ongmans  Green  &  Co.,  1915.  Writ- 
ten by  an  Englishman  with  intimate  knowledge  of  con- 
ditions in  South  Africa.  Gives  useful  comparisons  be- 
tween the  South  and  South  Africa,  based  on  first  hand 
observation. 

Hammond,  Mrs.  L,.  H. :  In  Black  and  White.  New  York : 
Fleming  H.  Revell,  1914.  A  sympathetic  account  of 
race  relations  as  seen  by  a  Southern  woman. 

Southern  Women  and  Race  Adjustment.    L,ynchburg, 

Va.:   J.  P.  Bell  &  Co.,  1917. 

Hart,  A.  B. :  The  Southern  South.  New  York :  D.  Apple- 
ton  &  Co.,  1912.  A  stimulating  book  full  of  intimate 
knowledge  of  the  section. 

Hoffman,  F.  L,. :  Race  Traits  and  Tendencies  of  the  Amer- 
ican Negro.  American  Economics  Assn.,  1896.  Vol. 
XI,  Nos.  1-3.    A  study  in  vital  statistics. 

Jones,  Thomas  Jesse  :  The  Negro  and  the  Census  of  1910. 
Hampton,  Va. :  Hampton  Institute  Press,  1912. 

Negro  Population  in  the  U.  S.     Annals  Am.  Acad., 

September,  1913. 

et  al :    Negro  Education  in  the  United  States.    Bulletins 

38,  39,  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Education,  1917.     Authorita- 
tive and  comprehensive. 

Kerlin,  Robt.  T.  The  Voice  of  the  Negro.  New  York  : 
E.  P.  Dutton  and  Co.,  1920.  A  keen  analysis  of  recent 
trends  in  Negro  public  opinion  through  a  study  of  the 
colored  press. 

Mecklin,  J.  M. :  Democracy  and  Race  Friction.  New 
York :  The  McMillan  Company,  1914.  Excellent  dis- 
cussion of  the  philosophy  of  race  relations. 

Miller,  Kelly:  Race  Adjustment.  New  York:  Neale 
Publishing  Co.,  1908.  An  illustration  of  the  attitude 
of  the  cooperative  group  of  colored  thinkers. 

Moton,  Robert  Russa  :  Finding  a  Way  Out.  New  York : 
Doubleday  Page  &  Co.,  1920.  Autobiographical  account 
of  the  life  of  the  successor  to  Booker  Washington.  Full 
of  the  cooperative  spirit  of  race  relations.  Well  worth 
while. 

Murphy,  Edgar  Gardner:  The  Basis  of  Ascendancy. 
New  York :    The  MacMillan  Company,  1909. 


Bibliography  183 

The  Present  South.  New  York :  The  McMillan  Com- 
pany, 1904. 

Two  treatments  of  the  philosophy  of  race  relations 
which  should  by  all  means  be  read. 

Odum,  Howard  W. :  Social  and  Mental  Traits  of  the 
Negro.  New  York:  Columbia  University,  Studies  in 
History  Economics  and  Public  L,aw,  1910.  A  scholarly 
treatment  of  several  phases  of  the  Negro  problem, 
especially  psychology  and  folk-lore. 

Washington,  B.  T. :  As  leader  of  the  cooperative  school 
of  colored  thought  and  pioneer  advocate  of  industrial 
education,  all  of  his  works  are  of  importance,  especially, 
Up  From  Slavery,,  The  Story  of  the  Negro,  and  Char- 
acter Building. 

Weatherford,  W.  D. :  Negro  Life  in  the  South.  Nash- 
ville, 1911. 

Present  Forces  in  the  Uplift  of  the  Negro.    Nashville, 

1912. 

Two  books  which  are  excellent  reading  for  beginners. 


2. — Rural  Organization 

App,  Frank  :  New  Jersey  Agricultural  Experimental  Sta- 
tion Bulletins  294,  311  and  320.  Studies  of  tenure  in 
Monmouth  and  Sussex  Counties,  N.  J. 

Atlas  of  American  Agriculture,  Advance  Proof  Sheets. 
U.  S.  Dept.  of  Agriculture  (in  press,  1920),  Govt. 
Printing  Office. 

Banks,  E.  M. :  Economics  of  Land  Tenure  in  Georgia.  New 
York:  Columbia  University  Press.  Studies  in  His- 
tory Economics  and  Public  Law,  1905.  Out  of  date, 
but  contains  useful  data  for  the  student  in  this  field. 

Bitting,  Samuel  T. :  Rural  Landownership  Among  Ne- 
groes in  Virginia.  Phelps-Stokes  Fellowship  Studies, 
No.  3,  Univ.  of  Virginia,  1915. 

Brooks,  R.  P.:  Race  Relations  in  the  Eastern  Piedmont 
Section  of  Georgia.  Political  Science  Quarterly,  June, 
1911. 

The  Agrarian  Revolution  in  Georgia,  1865-1912.  Mad- 
ison, 1914,  Univ.  of  Wisconsin,  History  Series.  A 
scholarly  and  useful  study  of  the  plantation  system. 


1 84  Bibliography 

Bruce,  P.  A. :  The  Plantation  Negro  as  a  Freeman.  New 
York:  G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons,  1889.  Historical  view- 
point. 

Carver,  T.  N. :  Selected  Readings  in  Rural  Economics. 
Boston:   Ginn  and  Company,  1916. 

DuBois,  W.  E.  B. :  The  Negro  Landholder  in  Georgia,  U.  S. 
Dept.  Labor  Bui  35,  1901.  A  pioneer  study  of  the 
Negro  as  a  property  owner,  full  of  useful  data,  but 
needs  bringing  up  to  date. 

Galpin,  C.  J. :  Rural  Life.  New  York :  The  Century  Co., 
1918. 

Hill,  W.  B. :  The  Negroes  of  Clarke  County,  Georgia. 
Phelps-Stokes  Studies  No.  2,  Univ.  of  Ga.,  1914. 

Kelsey,  Carl  :  The  Negro  Farmer.  Univ.  of  Penn.  Pub- 
lications.    Philadelphia,  1902. 

L/EiGH,  Frances  B. :  Ten  Years  on  a  Georgia  Plantation. 
London:   Richard  Bentley  and  Son,  1883. 

Phillips,  U.  B. :  Plantation  and  Frontier  Documents. 
Cleveland:  The  Arthur  H.  Clark  Co.,  1909.  A  useful 
sourcebook  on  ante-bellum  plantation  system. 

History  of  American  Slavery.  New  York :  D.  Apple- 
ton  and  Co.,  1919. 

Rogers,  W.  M. :  The  Negroes  of  Oconee  County,  Georgia. 

Phelps-Stokes  Studies,  No. (in  press),  University 

of  Georgia,  1920. 

Sims,  N.  L. :  The  Rural  Community,  Ancient  and  Modern. 
New  York:  Charles  Scribner's  Sons,  1920.  A  com- 
prehensive sourcebook. 

Spillman,  W.  D. :  Land  Classification  and  Land  Tenure. 
American  Ec.  Review,  March,  1918. 

and  Goldenweiser  :  Farm  Tenantry  in  the  U.  S.  Year- 
book of  the  U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture,  1916. 

Stone,  A.  H. :  Studies  in  the  American  Race  Problem.  New 
York :  Doubleday  Page  &  Co.,  1908.  A  planter's  ex- 
periment with  Negro  and  Italian  labor. 

Taylor,  H.  C. :  An  Introduction  to  the  Study  of  Agricul- 
tural Economics..  New  York:  The  McMillan  Com- 
pany, 1905. 

U.  S.  Office  of  Farm  Management.  Bulletins — Local  Sur- 
veys of  Yazoo  Mississippi  Delta,  Sumter  County,  Geor- 
gia ;  Brooks  County,  Georgia ;  Anderson  County,  S.  C. ; 
Ellis  County,  Texas. 


Bibliography  185 

3. — Local  Studies 
(Other  Than  of  Rural  Organization) 

Daniels,  John  :  In  Freedom's  Birthplace.  Boston :  Hough- 
ton, Mifflin  &  Co.,  1914.    study  of  Boston  Negroes. 

Du  Bois,  W.  E.  B. :  The  Philadelphia  Negro.  Philadel- 
phia: Univ.  of  Pa.  publication,  1899.  A  pioneer  sur- 
vey of  a  large  city. 

The  Negroes  of  Farmville,  Va.    Bulletin  U.  S.  Dept.  of 

Labor,  1898. 

Epstein,  A.  The  Negroes  of  Pittsburgh,  Pa.  University  of 
Pittsburgh,  1918. 

El wang,  W.  W. :  Negroes  of  St.  Louis,  Mo.  Univ.  of  Mo., 
1904. 

Haynes,  George  E. :  The  Negro  at  Work  in  New  York 
City.  New  York:  Columbia  Univ.  Press,  1912.  An 
excellent  analysis  of  a  Northern  city  population. 

Johnson,  M.  K. :  School  Conditions  in  Clarke  County, 
Georgia.  Phelps-Stokes  Studies  No.  3,  Univ.  of  Ga., 
1915. 

Long,  Frank  Taylor:  The  Negroes  of  Athens  and  Clarke 
County,  Georgia,  in  the  Great  War.  Phelps-Stokes 
Studies  No.  5,  Univ.  of  Ga.,  1919. 

Martin,  A.  E. :  Our  Negro  Population.  Kansas  City :  1912. 
A  study  of  the  Negroes  of  Kansas  City. 

Morton,  R.  L. :  The  History  of  Negro  Suffrage  in  Virginia 
Since  the  Civil  War.  Phelps-Stokes  Studies,  Univ.  of 
Va.,  1918. 

O'Kelly,  H.  S. :  Sanitary  Conditions  of  the  Negroes  of 
Athens,  Georgia.  Phelps- Stokes  Studies,  No.  4,  Univ. 
of  Ga.,  1917. 

Ovington,  Mary:  Half  a  Man.  New  York:  Longmans 
Green  &  Co.,  1911. 

The  Negro  in  Trades  Unions  in  New  York  City.  An- 
nals Am.  Acad.  27:551-558,  1906. 

Ramsay,  D.  Hiden:  Negro  Criminality.  Phelps-Stokes 
Studies,  Univ.  of  Va.,  1914.  (Published  in  "Lectures 
and  Addresses  on  the  Negro  in  the  South.) 

Reed,  Ruth  :    The  Negro  Women  of  Gainesville,  Georgia. 

Phelps-Stokes  Studies,  Univ.  of  Ga.,  No. (in  press, 

1920). 

Snavely,  Tipton  Ray  :    The  Taxation  of  Negroes  in  Vir- 


1 86  Bibliography 

ginia.    Phelps-Stokes  Studies,  Univ.  of  Va.,  1917. 
Thom,  W.  H.  T. :    The  Negro  of  Litwalton,  Va.,  and  the 

Negro  of  Sandy  Spring,  Md.     Bulletins,  U.  S.  Dept. 

Labor,  1901. 
Woofter,  T.  J.  Jr.  :    The  Negroes  of  Athens,   Georgia. 

Phelps-Stokes  Studies,  No.  1,  Univ.  of  Ga.,  1913. 

4. — Migration 

U.  S.  Department  of  Labor,  Special  Bulletin,  1919 — Negro 
Migration  in  1916-17.  A  symposium  of  individual  re- 
ports on  conditions  in  different  states,  with  descriptions 
Qof  the  movement  and  its  causes. 
Carnegie  Foundation  :  Preliminary  Economic  Studies  of 
the  War,  No.  16.  Negro  Migration  During  the  War. 
Compiled  by  Emmet  J.  Scott.  New  York,  1920. 
Woodson,  Carter  G. :  A  Century  of  Negro  Migration. 
Assoc,  for  Study  of  Negro  Life  and  History,  1918.  A 
general  historical  study. 

5. — Statistics 

Moore,  Henry  L. :  Forecasting  the  Yield  and  Price  of  Cot- 
ton.   New  York:   The  McMillan  Company,  1917. 

Pearson,  Karl  :  The  Grammar  of  Science.  London :  A.  C. 
Black,  1911. 

Yule,  G.  U. :  An  Introduction  to  the  Theory  of  Statistics. 
London:  C.  Griffin  and  Co.,  5th  Ed.,  1919. 


APPENDIX 
General  Statistical  Method 

The  first  objective  of  social  science  in  accurately  analyzing  its 
problems  is  to  state  them  in  terms  of  definite  forces  which  oper- 
ate in  well  defined  groups  and  are  associated  with  resultants 
which  can  be  measured  and  counted.  The  next  is  to  group  these 
elements  logically  and  determine  the  real  importance  of  each. 
When  this  is  accomplished  it  can  give  descriptions  of  the  ele- 
ments of  the  problem  which  are  as  clear  and  significant  as  the 
diagram  of  a  mechanical  engineer. 

This  often  means  an  analysis  of  human  motives,  which,  in 
many  of  their  aspects  are  too  intangible  to  be  easily  measured. 
A  mixture  of  motives  is  always  at  play  in  the  complex  medium 
of  society,  and  it  is  accordingly  difficult  to  separate  one  from 
another  or  to  measure  their  influence  on  individual  behavior 
apart  from  the  influence  of  the  forces  of  the  physical  environ- 
ment. Motives  are  intangible  and  hard  to  measure  because  they 
are,  to  such  a  large  extent,  mental  phenomena.  From  this  point 
of  view  all  motives  are  desires.  But  for  any  desire  to  become  a 
motive  there  must  be  movement,  effort  aimed  at  satisfaction. 
Such  reactions  constitute  human  behavior.  The  number  of 
times  they  manifest  themselves,  under  certain  conditions,  can  be 
measured  and  counted;  and  if,  when  a  certain  condition  occurs 
in  a  number  of  areas,  or,  if  when  it  recurrs  a  number  of  times, 
the  same  behavior  manifests  itself  in  the  large  majority  of  in- 
dividuals, the  trait  of  behavior  may  be  said  to  be  associated  with 
that  condition.  But,  for  the  inference  to  be  of  scientific  value, 
the  condition  must  be  as  definite  as  the  behavior.  This  definite- 
ness  can  be  secured  by  describing  conditions  in  terms  of  mea- 
surable elements,  such  as  "increase  in  number  of  farms  operated 
by  independent  owners  of  the  land."  The  presence  or  absence 
of  such  an  element  can  be  verified  by  observation.  In  these 
terms,  the  problem  of  scientific  social  research  is,  to  describe 
the  true  relationship  between  definite  traits  of  group  behavior 
and  definite  elements  in  the  situations  in  which  groups  are 
found. 


1 88  Appendix 

A  population  movement,  looked  at  as  an  effort  to  satisfy 
desires,  renders  this  task  somewhat  easier  than  it  is  in  most 
social  problems.  The  movement  itself  is  a  very  tangible,  mea- 
surable trait,  and,  furthermore,  two  situations  are  involved,  the 
one  from  which  population  shifts  and  the  one  into  which  it 
shifts.  Certainly,  if  groups  of  men  are  so  profoundly  affected 
that  they  leave  their  residences  and  acquaintances  and  chance 
their  future  among  strangers  there  must  be  some  powerful  mo- 
tive or  complex  of  motives  back  of  the  move — some  condition 
which  is  odious,  some  desire  which  cannot  be  satisfied  in  their 
old  home.  Given  a  sufficient  number  of  more  or  less  homo- 
geneous areas  which  are  losing  population,  an  observer  can  de- 
termine certain  elements  common  to  the  situations  in  each, 
from  which  the  movement  seems  to  rise.  Whether  these  con- 
ditions are  fundamental  and  permanent  causes  of  the  movement 
or  not,  can  be  verified  by  observing  the  migrant  in  his  new  sur- 
roundings, and  finding  out  if  he  escapes  the  conditions  which 
were  odious  in  his  old  surroundings — if  he  satisfies  the  desire 
which  he  could  not  satisfy  before  moving.  This  gives  a  double 
check  on  the  causes  of  the  movement  which  is  based  on  con- 
crete, observable  facts. 

But,  in  the  midst  of  such  complexity  as  organized  social 
groups  present,  how  is  definite  assurance  to  be  obtained  that 
observations  are  accurately  made,  or  relationships  correctly 
tested.  The  scientific  method  for  obtaining  this  assurance  was 
outlined  by  Durkheim  in  1895  in  his  "Les  Regies  de  la  Methode 
Sociologique,"  as  follows: 

The  old  logicians'  methods  are  of  very  little  value  in  social 
reasoning  because  they  assume  a  science  already  advanced  to 
such  a  stage  as  to  offer  incontestable  laws  from  which  logical 
reasoning  may  proceed  by  comparison  of  cases  which  agree 
or  differ  in  one  point  only.  Social  groups  are  too  complex  to 
ever  agree  or  differ  in  only  one  respect.  The  real  social  method 
is,  therefore,  a  statistical  method.  The  groups  studied  may  be 
compared  with  respect  to  the  phenomenon  under  investigation 
and  a  phenomenon  which  is  thought  to  be  its  cause.  When 
the  extent  to  which  the  two  are  present  or  absent  in  the  same 
group  fluctuates,  uniformly  in  the  same  direction,  this  simple 
parallelism  of  values  constitutes,  in  itself,  a  proof  of  a  relation- 
ship which  may  often  be  stated  quantitatively,  provided  a  suf- 
ficient number  of  cases  are  studied. 

This  process  of  accurately  measuring  the  quantitive  relation- 
ship between  a  social  force  and  a  change  in  society  is  a  great 


Appendix  189 

time-saver  for  the  student.  As  Durkheim  points  out,  it  obviates 
the  necessity  of  discussing  minutely  each  of  the  possible  causes. 
After  their  relative  importance  has  been  measured,  attention  can 
be  centered  on  the  forces  which  have  the  closest  relationship 
to  the  change. 

The  task  of  the  Chapter  on  "Migrations  of  Countrymen"  is 
of  the  kind  which  Durkheim  had  in  mind  when  he  outlined  this 
method.  At  that  time,  however,  the  statistical  method  was 
relatively  undeveloped.  What  he  described  was  little  more  than 
a  modification,  by  a  more  liberal  use  of  mass  data,  of  the  logic- 
ians methods  of  reasoning.  Since  that  date  material  contribu- 
tions have  been  made  to  the  use  of  mathematical  methods  for 
attaining  exactitude,  and  scientists  have  demonstrated  the  » value 
of  the  methods  in  Biology,  Psychology,  and  Economics.  Mod- 
ern sociologists  are  insistent  that  knowledge  of  the  statistical 
method  of  induction  is  the  most  useful  tool  of  the  student  of 
social  science,  but  as  yet,  the  application  of  statistics  to  social 
problems  is  in  its  infancy. 

Since  the  chapter  on  Movements  of  Countrymen  demonstrates 
the  practical  use  of  correlation  in  measuring  social  relationships, 
it  was  thought  advisable  to  include  the  fundamental  steps  in 
the  logic  of  this  method  and  a  condensed  mathematical  deriva- 
tion of  the  Pearsonian  coefficient  in  this  appendix. 


Correlation 

General  Measures — A  method  of  measuring  the  relation  be- 
tween two  variables,  or,  to  keep  the  terminology  of  the  previous 
section, — of  measuring  the  extent  to  which  the  presence  or  ab- 
sence of  a  certain  element  of  a  situation  is  coincident  with  cer- 
tain changes  in  the  population,  is  herewith  outlined.  (For  more 
technical  treatments  of  the  mathematics  of  correlation,  see  bib- 
liography.-statistics.) 

1.  The  most  widely  known  measure  of  a  variable  series  is 
the  arithmetic  average,  which  is  the  sum  of  the  individual  mem- 
bers of  the  series  divided  by  the  number  of  cases.  In  Table 
17,  the  method  of  guessing  the  average  was  used.  This  is 
valid  because  the  sum  of  a  series  of  deviations  from  any  quan- 
tity which  we  may  guess,  when  divided  by  the  number  of  cases 
in  the  series  and  added  to  the  quantity  guessed  is  equal  to  the 
true  average.  This  makes  it  possible  to  guess  a  round  number 
which  greatly  facilitates  the  calculation  of  deviations,  and  later 


1 88  Appendix 

A  population  movement,  looked  at  as  an  effort  to  satisfy 
desires,  renders  this  task  somewhat  easier  than  it  is  in  most 
social  problems.  The  movement  itself  is  a  very  tangible,  mea- 
surable trait,  and,  furthermore,  two  situations  are  involved,  the 
one  from  which  population  shifts  and  the  one  into  which  it 
shifts.  Certainly,  if  groups  of  men  are  so  profoundly  affected 
that  they  leave  their  residences  and  acquaintances  and  chance 
their  future  among  strangers  there  must  be  some  powerful  mo- 
tive or  complex  of  motives  back  of  the  move — some  condition 
which  is  odious,  some  desire  which  cannot  be  satisfied  in  their 
old  home.  Given  a  sufficient  number  of  more  or  less  homo- 
geneous areas  which  are  losing  population,  an  observer  can  de- 
termine certain  elements  common  to  the  situations  in  each, 
from  which  the  movement  seems  to  rise.  Whether  these  con- 
ditions are  fundamental  and  permanent  causes  of  the  movement 
or  not,  can  be  verified  by  observing  the  migrant  in  his  new  sur- 
roundings, and  finding  out  if  he  escapes  the  conditions  which 
were  odious  in  his  old  surroundings — if  he  satisfies  the  desire 
which  he  could  not  satisfy  before  moving.  This  gives  a  double 
check  on  the  causes  of  the  movement  which  is  based  on  con- 
crete, observable  facts. 

But,  in  the  midst  of  such  complexity  as  organized  social 
groups  present,  how  is  definite  assurance  to  be  obtained  that 
observations  are  accurately  made,  or  relationships  correctly 
tested.  The  scientific  method  for  obtaining  this  assurance  was 
outlined  by  Durkheim  in  1895  in  his  "Les  Regies  de  la  Methode 
Sociologique,"  as  follows: 

The  old  logicians'  methods  are  of  very  little  value  in  social 
reasoning  because  they  assume  a  science  already  advanced  to 
such  a  stage  as  to  offer  incontestable  laws  from  which  logical 
reasoning  may  proceed  by  comparison  of  cases  which  agree 
or  differ  in  one  point  only.  Social  groups  are  too  complex  to 
ever  agree  or  differ  in  only  one  respect.  The  real  social  method 
is,  therefore,  a  statistical  method.  The  groups  studied  may  be 
compared  with  respect  to  the  phenomenon  under  investigation 
and  a  phenomenon  which  is  thought  to  be  its  cause.  When 
the  extent  to  which  the  two  are  present  or  absent  in  the  same 
group  fluctuates,  uniformly  in  the  same  direction,  this  simple 
parallelism  of  values  constitutes,  in  itself,  a  proof  of  a  relation- 
ship which  may  often  be  stated  quantitatively,  provided  a  suf- 
ficient number  of  cases  are  studied. 

This  process  of  accurately  measuring  the  quantitive  relation- 
ship between  a  social  force  and  a  change  in  society  is  a  great 


Appendix  189 

time-saver  for  the  student.  As  Durkheim  points  out,  it  obviates 
the  necessity  of  discussing  minutely  each  of  the  possible  causes. 
After  their  relative  importance  has  been  measured,  attention  can 
be  centered  on  the  forces  which  have  the  closest  relationship 
to  the  change. 

The  task  of  the  Chapter  on  "Migrations  of  Countrymen"  is 
of  the  kind  which  Durkheim  had  in  mind  when  he  outlined  this 
method.  At  that  time,  however,  the  statistical  method  was 
relatively  undeveloped.  What  he  described  was  little  more  than 
a  modification,  by  a  more  liberal  use  of  mass  data,  of  the  logic- 
ians methods  of  reasoning.  Since  that  date  material  contribu- 
tions have  been  made  to  the  use  of  mathematical  methods  for 
attaining  exactitude,  and  scientists  have  demonstrated  the  lvalue 
of  the  methods  in  Biology,  Psychology,  and  Economics.  Mod- 
ern sociologists  are  insistent  that  knowledge  of  the  statistical 
method  of  induction  is  the  most  useful  tool  of  the  student  of 
social  science,  but  as  yet,  the  application  of  statistics  to  social 
problems  is  in  its  infancy. 

Since  the  chapter  on  Movements  of  Countrymen  demonstrates 
the  practical  use  of  correlation  in  measuring  social  relationships, 
it  was  thought  advisable  to  include  the  fundamental  steps  in 
the  logic  of  this  method  and  a  condensed  mathematical  deriva- 
tion of  the  Pearsonian  coefficient  in  this  appendix. 


Correlation 

General  Measures — A  method  of  measuring  the  relation  be- 
tween two  variables,  or,  to  keep  the  terminology  of  the  previous 
section,— of  measuring  the  extent  to  which  the  presence  or  ab- 
sence of  a  certain  element  of  a  situation  is  coincident  with  cer- 
tain changes  in  the  population,  is  herewith  outlined.  (For  more 
technical  treatments  of  the  mathematics  of  correlation,  see  bib- 
liography,-«tatistics.) 

1.  The  most  widely  known  measure  of  a  variable  series  is 
the  arithmetic  average,  which  is  the  sum  of  the  individual  mem- 
bers of  the  series  divided  by  the  number  of  cases.  In  Table 
17,  the  method  of  guessing  the  average  was  used.  This  is 
valid  because  the  sum  of  a  series  of  deviations  from  any  quan- 
tity which  we  may  guess,  when  divided  by  the  number  of  cases 
in  the  series  and  added  to  the  quantity  guessed  is  equal  to  the 
true  average.  This  makes  it  possible  to  guess  a  round  number 
which  greatly  facilitates  the  calculation  of  deviations,  and  later 


190  Appendix 

correct  the  guess  by  a  simple  process.     (Moore, — Forecasting 
the  Yield  and  Price  of  Cotton  p.  19.    Theorem  II.) 

2.  The  averages  of  two  series,  however,  tell  us  very  little. 
We  need  still  another  measure,  in  terms  of  which,  we  can  tell, 
in  each  single  case  the  proportion  in  which  the  variation  of 
one  observation  from  the  average  of  its  series  stands  to  the 
variation  of  another  observation  from  the  average  of  its  series. 
The  best  description  of  the  need  and  derivation  of  such  a  meas- 
ure is  found  in  Moore's  "Forecasting  the  Yield  and  Price  of 
Cotton,"  pages  20-22. 

"The  arithmetical  mean  of  the  frequency  distribution  gives  us 
one  of  the  most  important  summary  descriptions  of  the  dis- 
tribution: it  gives  the  centre  of  density  of  the  distribution. 
But  in  economic,  as  well  as  in  most  other  measurements,  it  is 
extremely  important  to  know  how  the  several  observations  are 
grouped  about  the  arithmetical  mean  of  the  measurements,  and 
a  coefficient  showing  the  manner  of  grouping  is  a  measure  of 
dispersion.  Just  as  we  found  that  the  arithmetical  mean  of  the 
measurements  gives  us  an  idea  of  the  centre  of  the  density 
of  the  measurements,  so,  as  a  measure  of  dispersion,  we  might 
take  the  arithmetical  mean  of  the  deviations  of  the  magnitudes 
from  the  mean  of  the  observations.  But  if  we  followed  this 
plan,  we  should  meet  with  an  embarrassing  difficulty:  The 
deviations  of  the  measurements  from  the  arithmetical  mean 
are  some  of  them  positive  and  some  of  them  negative,  and  if 
we  take  account  of  the  signs  of  the  deviations,  then,  the  sum 
of  the  deviations  is  zero.  We  therefore  choose,  as  our  measure 
of  dispersion  the  square-root  of  the  mean  square  of  the  devia- 
tions about  the  arithmetical  mean  of  the  observations  and  we 
call  this  measure  the  "standard  deviation."  The  measure  of  the 
dispersion  of  a  series  of  observations  about  its  average  is  then 
derived  by  squaring  the  deviation  of  each  observation,  summing 
the  squares  and  dividing  by  the  number  of  observations  and 
extracting  the  square  root.  With  2  as  our  symbol  for  "the  sum 
of,"  and  n  for  the  number  of  cases,  in  a  series  whose  individual 

2  X2 
deviations  are  designed  by  Y,  the  standard  deviation  is: 

For  the  example  the  total  of  column  6,  table  17  gives  the 
sum  of  the  squares  of  the  population  deviationsl56,428,000.When 
this  sum  is  divided  by  n  (100)  and  corrected  for  the  difference 
between    the  guessed   and   true   averages   the   result  is  11,49,035. 


Appendix  191 

The  square  root  of  this  quantity  is  1220.  With  <jy  as  the 
symbol  for  the  standard  deviation  of  the  Y  series,  the  expres- 
sion is   <jy  equals  1220.     Similarly  from  column  7,   <jx  equals  249. 

3.  It  was  noted  in  the  text  that  another  useful  measure  in  deter- 
mining whether  or  not  high  population  increases  were  asso- 
ciated with  high  farm  increases  in  individual  cases  is  the 
product  of  the  two  deviations.  These  XY  products  are  shown 
in  column  5,  table  17  and  their  corrected  total  after  dividing 
by  the  number  of  counties  is  246,210,  i.e.  2xY=246,210. 

4.  A  coefficient  expressing  the  sums  of  these  deviation  products 
in  terms  of  the  two  standard  deviations  constitutes  a  measure 
of  the  real  relationship  between  the  two  series  which  is  duly 
weighted  for  each  case.  Provided  a  straight  line  is  the  best 
description  of  the  distribution  of  the  two  series,  the  coeffi- 
cient which  should  be  developed  is  one  which  will  describe 
the  best  fitting  straight  line  in  terms  of  the  deviation  products 
and  the  standard  deviations. 

Derivation  (Based  on  the  "Mathematics  of  correlation,  Moore, 
Forecasting  the  Yield  and  Price  of  Cotton). — Two  series  of  ob- 
servations are  taken  on  the  same  cases.  Example,  let  the  coun- 
ties studied  in  Chapter  II,  Part  II,  be  the  cases  and  the  first 
series  of  observations  be  on  the  increases  in  farms  operated  by 
Negroes,  the  second  on  increases  in  Negro  population.  Call  one 
set  of  variables  (the  observations  made  on  the  increases  in 
farms)  x1,  x2,  x3, x„.  Call  the  other  set  of  variables,  (the  ob- 
servations made  on  the  increases  in  population)   yv  y2,  y3 y„. 

Compute  the  averages  of  the  two  series  and  by  subtracting  the 
average  from  each  individual  observation,  obtain  the  deviation  of 
each  observation  from  its  average.  (See  table  17,  columns  II 
and  III.)  For  the  first  series  call  these  deviations  X  ,  X2,  X3 
.  ...Xn.  For  the  second  series  call  these  deviations  Y,  Y  ,  Y3 
....Yn.     i.e. 

xx —  Av.  x  series=X1 
x2 —  Av.  x  series=X2 
yt —  Av.  y  series=Y1 
y2 —  Av.  y  series=Y2  etc.,  etc. 

2.  Plot  the  cases  on  a  system  of  coordinates  with  the  aver- 
ages of  the  two  series  as  the  zero  point:  (See  Diagram  III  op- 
posite page.)     That  is,  locate  the  intersection  of  the  x  and  y 


192  Appendix 

axes  at  the  mean  of  the  systems, — the  point  whose  co-ordin- 
ates from  absolute  zero  are  average  x,  average  y.  Plot  the 
cases  from  this  zero  point  in  terms  of  their  deviations  from 
their  averages.  Each  case  is  then  represented  by  a  point,  whose 
distance  from  the  vertical  axis  parallel  to  the  horizontal  axis  is 
the  deviation  of  the  case  from  its  x  average  and  whose  distance 
from  the  horizontal  axis  parallel  to  the  vertical  axis  is  the 
deviation  of  the  case  from  the  y  average.  In  other  words  the 
coordinates  of   the  points  representing  the  n  cases  would  be 

XjYj,  X2Y2,  XaY8 X„Yn.     In  Diagram  III  a  typical  point  is 

marked  P  and  the  X  and  Y  for  this  point  shown  graphically. 

3.  The  problem  is  then  to  "fit"  a  straight  line  to  this  scatter 
diagram  of  points  which  will  describe  the  relationship  between 
the  X  and  Y  series  in  the  n  cases  studied.  The  best  fitting 
straight  line  will  be  the  one  from  which  the  average  of  the 
squares  of  the  deviations  of  the  n  points  will  be  a  minimum. 
But  the  single  point  from  which  the  average  of  the  squares  of 
the  deviations  of  all  the  points  is  a  minimum  is  the  point 
whose  coordinates  are  average  xr  average  y,  or  the  zero  point 
in  the  diagram  as  we  have  constructed  it.  This  may  there- 
fore be  assumed  as  a  point  on  the  best  fitting  line.  (For  the 
student  who  wishes  a  mathematical  proof  that  this  point  lies 
on  the  best  fitting  line  the  proofs  of  Moore  and  Yule,  are  cited. 
Since  this  is  proven  in  other  derivations  of  the  correlation  co- 
efficient, it  was  deemed  expedient  to  assume  it  'here  in  the  inter- 
ests of  brevity  and  clearness.) 

4.  Since  the  line  passes  through  the  zero  point  and  has  no 
intercept  on  either  axis  its  equation  will  have  the  general  form 
y  equals  mx,  m  being  some  constant  which  will  express  its  slope. 

5.  For  the  series  of  observations  plotted  along  the  horizon- 
tal axis  as  X  ,  X2,  X8....X„,  there  will  be  a  similar  series  of 
points  on  the  line.    In  the  terms  of  the  equation  of  the  line  the 

abscissae  of  these  points  will  be  y'v  y'2  y'3 y'n.  These  points 

will  have   the   coordinates   X^'g,   X2y'2,   X3y'3 Xny'n.      (See 

Key  of  Diagram  III.)  The  equation  may  therefore  be  written 
y'  equals  mX. 

6.  The  vertical  deviation  of  each  point  from  the  line  will 
then  be  Y—y\  Y2— y'2,  etc.  (On  Diagram  III  Yp— y'p=the 
line   FP\)     The  problem  is  then  to  determine  m  so  that,   for 


Appendix  193 

all  of  the  n  observations  of  x,  the  sum  of  the  corresponding 

(Y-yT, 

— ^r s  will  be  a  minimum,  i.e. 

That     —A X-L  be  a  minimum. 

N 
But      substituting  the  value  mX  for  y',  the  condition  becomes: 

(1)  That    S(Y~ mX)2   be  a  minimum. 

N 

(2)  Expanding  (1)  we  have  S(y2~ 2mXY+m2X2)    which  ^ 

m      S  Y2       9™  SxY   ,    m,2X2 

N  N  N 

2  Y2 
But,  by  definition    is    <Ty2 

V  vj 

Similarly    — —  =    a  x2  and  (3) 

becomes    (4)   <jy2—  2  m  5^X  +  m2<7x2 

V 
Call   this    equation    tt.       Now   if  m   should    increase   by   an 

infinitesimally    small   quantity,    e,   a   new    equation   would   result: 

(5)  Y.'  =  (jy2-2(m+e)^M  +  (m+e)«crx2 

V 

But  for  the  original   equation   (4)     ^      to  be  a  minimum  it 

V 
must  be   less   than   (5)    ^r    and  if  e  is   such  a  small  quantity 

that  its  square  can  be  disregarded  (5)  becomes 
(6)    Z  =  ay2  — 2m^X  — 2e?^X  +  m8<J8  +  2meax» 
If  e  is  an  infinitesimally  small  quantity  then  for  all  practical 

purposes   X  =  Y_  and      ~      =  o.      Subtract    (4)    from    (6)    and 

N       N  N 

the  result  is    (7 )    V'~V  =  —  2e  5^X  +  2e(m  ax8),  therefore: 

N  N 

Sxr 


(8)     2e(max«-^p,)=  o 


For  (8)  to  be  true  a  sufficient  condition  is  that  the  coefficient 
of  the  constant   2e  be  zero,  i.  e. : 

mtf-^-Y  =  o  or  »«#*.£*£  or  (9)  m  =  |2? 
N  N  N  <Jx2 

The   expression    (9)    gives  us  the  slope  of  the  line.     But,   since 

the   coefficient   desired  was   one   expressed  in   terms   of   the  two 

standard  deviations,  we  may  multiply  both  sides  by 


194  Appendix 

(ID;  m  —  = or    m —  - 


Cy  <Jy        n  <7xa  ay  ay      n  ax  ay 

which  is  called  r,  or  the  Pearsonian  Coefficient  of  Correlation, 

and   it   determines    the   tangent   of   the   angle   which  the   best 

fitting  straight  lines  makes  with  the  x  axis,  expressed  in  terms 

of  the  standard  deviations  of  the  two  series. 

2  YY 
Example:    In  table  17,       ~~     is  246,210,  ay  is  1,220,  and  ax  is 

249.     ax  ay  is,  therefore  303,500  and  r  =  U6>210  =  .811. 
'  303,500 

»  PMJmiBLL  EMUn;  Willi  lilt  luiniulu  r.C«-VVrthopvobablcerroj' 

jtfjhr  rnnffininnt  ,1111  i    V  V       &  xJU  -  \'~m^ ±.141.     Thk. 

rnpa^g  tVint  Mj\th  akt,  1 1 ■  1 1 r  !Ji'/M<i  tgrits  "r  '1|"  m hdata  thguaaefficifin.t 

mi^ht  b^  ^  fopfh  in     %"ih    i    Iiiiii  ,i      fiTO        ' 

Graphic  Presentation. —The  advantage  of  having  the  scale  of 
Diagram  III  laid  out  in  units  proportional  to  the  two  standard 
deviations,  i.e.  of  having  the  unit  along  the  horizontal  axis  rep- 
resent  an  increase   of    100   in   farms,  and   the   unit   along   the 

100  X 1220 

vertical  axis  represent  an  increase  of  - 

249 
in  population  is  now  apparent.  For  as  r  is  the  tangent  of 
the  angle  which  the  best  fitting  line  makes  the  x  axis,  ex- 
pressed in  terms  of  the  standard  deviations,  then,  when  the 
scale  is  expressed  in  terms  of  the  standard  deviation,  r  has  a 
direct  relationship  to  the  tangent  of  the  angle.  Then  the 
straight  line  which  is  the  linear  representation  of  the  coefficient 
of  relationship  .811  is  plotted  by  passing  a  line  through  the  zero 
point  (located  at  the  means  of  the  systems)  and  the  point 
whose  coordinates  are  1,  .811.  (For  this  method  of  graphic 
expression  of  correlation  coefficients  I  am  indebted  to  Mr. 
Frank  A.  Ross,  of  the  faculty  of  Political  Science,  Columbia 
University.)  This  also  explains  why  several  correlation  co- 
efficients may  be  presented  on  the  same  system  of  coordinates 
as  in  diagram  II.  In  this  diagram  one  unit  on  the  x  axis 
represents,  in  turn,  increases  of  100  in  farms,  share  tenants, 
cash  tenants,  owners,  and  acres  cultivated  by  laborer,  while  in 

each   case  the   unit  on   the   y   axis   is         ?.  In   other 

ax 

words  the  units  used  are  proportions  instead  of  actual  num- 
bers and  since  they  are  proportions  they  may  be  legitimately 
compared  on  the  same  scale,  the  real  comparison  being  be- 
tween the  slopes  of  the  5  regression  lines. 


Appendix 


195 


DIAGRAM  III. 

Correlation  Between  Increase  in  Negro  Population  and  Increase  in 
Negro  Farmers — Rural  Counties  of   Georgia. 


PT-  % 
FT-  w 
PP-  Y,.v> 
AP-X 


Each  dot  represents  a  county  increase  in  population  and  farmers. 


VITA 

The  author  was  born  June  18th,  1893,  in  Macon,  Georgia. 
His  secondary  education  was  received  in  Athens,  Georgia. 
In  1912  he  graduated  from  the  University  of  Georgia  with 
the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts.  The  following  year  was 
spent  as  Phelps-Stokes  Fellow  at  the  University  of  Georgia. 
The  next  three  years  were  occupied  in  assisting  in  a  study 
of  Negro  Education  in  the  United  States,  which  was  under- 
taken cooperatively  by  the  Phelps-Stokes  Fund  and  the 
United  States  Bureau  of  Education.  The  academic  year 
1916-17,  which  was. begun  as  Fellow  of  the  American  Uni- 
versity at  Columbia  University,  was  interrupted  by  the  war. 
After  preparing  a  report  for  the  United  States  Depart- 
ment of  Labor,  on  Negro  Migration,  the  author  entered  the 
army,  where  he  remained  until  the  middle  of  1919.  For  the 
last  four  months  in  France  he  was  placed  on  detached  ser- 
vice with  the  Army  Educational  Corps  and  attended  lectures 
under  Professor  C.  Bougie  in  Sociology  and  Professor  A. 
Souchon  in  Rural  Economy  at  the  Sarbonne.  His  studies 
in  the  Faculty  of  Political  Science  of  Columbia  University 
were  resumed  in  1919-1920.  He  was  lecturer  in  economics 
in  Teachers'  College  for  one  term  of  that  year.  While  in 
residence  he  took  courses  under  Professors  Franklin  H. 
Giddings,  R.  E.  Chaddock,  Henry  L,.  Moore,  R.  S.  Wood- 
worth  and  A.  A.  Tenney.  He  has  assisted  in  the  prepara- 
tion of  "Negro  Education  in  the  United  States"  and  has 
published  "The  Negroes  of  Athens,  Georgia,"  and  "Negro 
Migration,  1916-1917 — from  Georgia  and  South  Carolina." 


